Advent of Washu
by Alan
Summary: Advent: n. An arrival or coming. taking up where the OAV left off. Updated with minor changes and formating improvements.
1. Prologue

[Insert standard disclaimer here]  *I am nothing, therefore I can possess nothing.*

Pioneer AIC is the owner of Tenchi Muyo.  I created only these writings and the original characters.

R&R may be sent to cgrundhofer@fanfiction.net

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**The Advent of Washu**

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A _Tenchi Muyo FanFiction****_

C. Alan Grundhofer****

The vastness of the space was eternal, for here all the knowledge of the ages was gathered.  It was a space known to only a few, visited upon by still  fewer.  It's glory was complete and terrible, awe-inspiring and beautiful, it's very existence an enigma wrapped within a quandary, guarded by ignorance and secrecy.

          "Kain."

          The word passed from one infinite end of the space to the other, and the spite that  it carried caused all it touched to shudder.

          "Wrath and hate can blind the sharpest hawk."

          In the center of the space, in the spot where all the knowledge and glory contained here met as one, was a room.  It was not a very large room, as one would figure from the vastness of the surroundings, but it was here that all was decided.  It was here that all things were.

          "Add to these two evil's impatience and stupidity, and I give to you..."

          For it was here that Tokimi could be found.

          "...Kain."

          At the end of the room, the ghostlike bust of a venerable, bearded man filled the wall, and behind him could be seen the vastness of the universe.

          "I speak his name, and I cannot contain my anger."  The bearded man appeared to speak these words.  Though his mouth did not move, his eyes betrayed his emotions.

          A second voice, gentler yet no less powerful, replied, "You despise Kain for his anger and thirst for revenge, yet in doing so open yourself to that which ultimately destroyed him."

          His eyes smiled.  "You are quick to judge, Lady.  I do not despise Kain, though none more deserving of spite do I know.  No, Lady, I despise his actions, for they have caused me much grief."

          "His actions were that of a defeated and desperate man, D3.  He  could not tolerate the shame of defeat."

          "Desperation leads to foolishness.  It was idiotic to go running straight to the only power that could destroy him.  Because of him, the boy is wiser and more powerful, and we have lost a willing and obedient servant."

          "The boy does not worry me greatly.  Tsunami's power can only go so far with him.  As for Clay, his loss is of little concern.  His incompetence at losing Washu is forgiven in revealing the boy's power.  His death in the G.P. headquarters explosion is acceptable.  He was of no further use."

          "As long as Washu remains with the boy, things will be difficult."

          "Only so long as we wish to remain hidden."

          "You have plans, My Lady?"

          "I do."

          "Very well."


	2. Dreaming of Forever

-The Advent of Washu-****

*******************001*******************

DREAMING OF FOREVER

          "Amos, run another scan on that asteroid, will you?"  Adrian fell back in his chair, knowing that one more scan wouldn't change anything, but it would at least make him feel better.  His ship's computer looked at him disapprovingly.

          "Sir, my first scan was complete, covering the entire asteroid.  I assure you, I missed nothing."

          Adrian closed his eyes and rubbed his temple.  "Just run the damn scan already."

          "Yes, sir."

          Two months so far, with nothing to show for it but wasted time.  This was certainly no way to run an outfit.

          "Coffee?"

          Adrian did not open his eyes as he heard Rodger enter the bridge.  "How 'bout some beer?"

          "We're out."  Rodger plopped down in the seat opposite of Adrian and gave the monitors a once over.  "Thought I heard Amos whining 'bout something.  Got him running more useless scans, eh."

          "Shut up and give me that coffee."

          "Sorry about the beer, but all we got left is coffee and some sake` we got from that freighter we passed about two weeks ago."

          Adrian grabbed his mug from Rodger.  "Hate that crap.  Don't even know how you're supposed to drink it.  Hot?  Cold?  Shit, man, pick one or the other, you know?  And what's with those tiny little cups?"

          Rodger turned back to his monitors.  "Yeah, well it's all we got left, so we're going to have to put in soon.  We're staring to run low on meat, too."

          Adrian took a drink of his coffee and rubbed his temple again.  "If we put in, we gotta report, and I aint got nothin' to report yet, so we're gonna make do for another week or so at least."

          "I've completed my scan, sir," Amos said, the robotic dome that was the ship's A.I. interface unit drifting over to where Rodger sat looking at his monitors.  "Once again, I find no valuable ore anywhere on the asteroid, not even steel.  There are no other asteroids in the area."

          "Crap."  Adrian set his coffee down and pulled up a navigation chart.  "Well, what the hell do we do know?"  Rodger pulled up a seat next to Adrian and looked over the chart.

          "We have covered this entire sector, sir," Amos said, sliding in between the two humans.  "I suggest we head to sector #6654.887.  No major space mining company has yet charted that area, and the data suggest a large concentration of asteroids and other space debris may be present.  It is not too far from our current location."

          "Show me."

          On the main view screen, their location was marked by a yellow arrow.  The view pulled back as a line appeared, marking the course to sector #6654.887.

          "I don't think that's too good an idea," Rodger said, "I've heard some bad things about that place."

          "What do you mean?"

          Rodger stood and walked over to the screen. "See how close it is to Lagen, this system here?"

          "Yeah, so?"

          "Well, they say any ship that heads for the Lagen system never comes back.  I've heard that it's guarded by the most advanced security system the universe has ever seen.  One hundred percent lethal, and completely indiscriminate."

          Adrian looked at Rodger for a moment, and then glanced back at the screen.  He'd heard a few rumors about the area as well, though he'd never paid them any mind.  And in any case, he needed to find some ore, and soon, or the company would have his neck.  "Yeah, well I say codswallop," he said, pushing his seat back and getting to his feet.  "We go where the asteroids are.  Go ahead and lay in a course, Amos."

          "Yes, sir."

          Adrian turned to leave the bridge.  "I'm turnin' in, Rodge.  Take the watch for a bit, and try to cool your superstitious heels.  And Amos, see if there's any ships we'll be gettin' near on the way out."

          "Sir."

          "And if there is, hail 'em and see if we can buy some provisions.  I could really use a beer."

          Rodger had been born in space, and, he figured with the way things had been going lately, he was probably going to die in space as well.  He had been born and raised on a deep space outpost, halfway between Jurai and the outer colonies.  His outpost had been a major outfit and supply depot for traffic passing along the trade routes, so naturally he had seen and heard all sorts of interesting things while growing up.

          "Superstition, he says," he mumbled, activating a long range navigation scan.

          "You know I do that automatically, sir," said Amos, turning to look at Rodger.  Rodger looked up from his keypad.

          "What was that, Amos?"

          "You ran a navigation scan.  I have been running one automatically every five minutes for the last three hours.  There is nothing out of the ordinary out there, sir, nor is there anything hazardous in our path for at least fifteen thousand kilometers."

          Rodger looked down at his screen.  A 'scan complete' message was flashing.  "Right.  Sorry."  He deactivated his screen and turned his chair around.  "Amos, you've heard of the Lagen system, haven't you?"

          "If you are referring to the tales of mystery regarding the system, I have fourteen separate accounts of vessels debarking for the territory, and never returning."

          "And he still calls it superstition."

          "However, they are all unconfirmed reports, from highly suspect sources."

          "Such as?"

          "Bar stories.  Drunken sailors lamenting the old days, trying to tell a better tale then the last.  Hardly reliable sources, wouldn't you say?"

          "You know, Amos, next time we pull in, I'm getting you a personality upgrade."

          "What do you mean?"

          Rodger stood and stretched.  He'd been on the bridge for a little over three hours now, and they weren't even halfway to sector #6654.887 yet.  "You're so dull all the time.  You know, Juraian ships have real personality.  Some even say their sentient."

          "That would be an impractical assessment."

          "See what I mean?  You've always got to quantify and qualify everything.  If we get through this, I'm getting you a sense of humor, at least."

          "There is no reason to suspect that we should not return safely."

          Rodger sighed.  "It's pointless talking to you."

          At that moment, Rodger's panel started beeping at him.  He turned in his chair and activated his screen.  "What have we got, Amos?"

          "Long range scans have detected what appears to be a life support pod at bearing one-six-five, elevation thirty-two, ten thousand kilometers ahead."

          "How far off course does that take us?"

          "If we were to intercept the pod, it would take us an extra hour and a half to reach sector # 665..."

          "Okay shut up.  Wake Adrian, would you?"

          "Yes, sir."

          Ten minutes later, Adrian walked onto the bridge, still half asleep.  "I was in the middle of a damn good dream, Rodge.  What is it?"

          "Found a life pod on long range scan.  I've already altered course to intercept."

          "Why?"

          Rodger was stunned silent for a moment.  "What the hell do you mean, 'why?'!  Why the hell do you think?"

          "Rodge, we're in the middle of nowhere, and we aint passed no ship in weeks.  Amos, have you picked up any debris or wreckage of any sort?"

          "Scans have shown nothing of the sort."

          "See what I mean, Rodge?  Those pods aren't meant to last more'n a few days, tops."  Adrian bent over and punched in a few commands on Rodger's screen.  An image of the life pod popped up on the view screen.  It was a perfectly round ball, with a worn and tattered exterior.  "Looks like this thing's been out there for weeks.  Maybe months."

          "Well, we gotta know for sure.  Amos, continue intercept course."

          "Yes sir."

          "Whatta waste of time.  I'm going back to bed, and don't wake me unless it's important."

          "You're full of heart, you know Adrian," Rodger called after him.

          "Yeah, it's a flaw," Adrian said, leaving the bridge.

          Rodger shook his head.  "What a jerk.  How'd I ever get stuck workin' with that guy?"

          "Luck of the draw, I guess," replied Amos, coming up beside Rodger.

          "Oh, so there is a little personality in there after all, eh?  How long until we reach that life ball?"

          "Another forty-five minutes."

          "Great.  Go ahead and get medical prepped, will you?"

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          "But Tenchi, I want to go with you!" whined Ryoko, throwing herself onto Tenchi's back as he sat in the entryway to the Masaki household, pulling on his shoes.  Tenchi pried her arms off his chest as he stood.

          "I said no, Ryoko.  Today is your day to help Sasami in the kitchen.  Can't you at least try to help out around here sometimes?"

          "But it must get so lonely out there in the fields, with no one to talk to," said Ryoko, getting that look in her eyes that Tenchi knew all to well.  "Come on, Tenchi.  You know you miss me when you're gone."

          Tenchi sighed as he slid open the front door.  "I'll see you tonight, Ryoko.  And try to help the others, okay?"  He slung his basket over his shoulder and walked out the door, sliding it closed behind him.  Ryoko hovered in the entryway for a moment, then grinned.

          "Well," she said, "I'll just follow him anyway!" and flew toward the door, her body passing through the screen as if it wasn't even there.  She suddenly stopped short, her legs still halfway inside the house.  "What's this?" she said, bending over and poking her head through the doorway.  There was Ryo-oh-ki, clamped tightly to the hem of her robe.  She floated back through the door and stood up, grabbing the cabit by the scruff of her neck.

          "And just what do you think you're doing?" Ryoko demanded.  Ryo-oh-ki meowed pitifully.

          "Where are you going, Ryoko?"  Ryoko looked up to see Sasami standing in the doorway to the kitchen, holding a knife in one hand and a potato in the other.  "I need you to start on the dishes so I can get these potatoes peeled.  We're having chips with lunch!" she said, grinning and returning to the kitchen.  Ryoko frowned and glared at Ryo-oh-ki.

          "Traitor," she growled, bringing herself fully inside.  Ryo-oh-ki just meowed and smiled.

          The gentle sound of brooms sweeping the stone walkway mixed perfectly with the light breeze rustling through the trees surrounding the Masaki shrine.  Ayeka paused for a moment to enjoy the spectacular view offered by the shrine's location on the hillside.  Summer was in full swing, and signs of life were everywhere.  The insects buzzed and the birds sang.  The lively conversation of the departing tourists drifted gently up the hillside.  The entire countryside felt alive.  It was the middle of vacation season, and even though the shrine had been getting regular visitors, it had been a rather slow day thus far, with only one family stopping by all morning.  Ayeka surveyed the hillsides, admiring the way the trees swayed in the breeze.  She got the feeling as if she were floating in the middle of a gently rolling ocean of green.

          The princess' solitude was suddenly interrupted by an obnoxious sound coming from behind her.  She turned toward the shrine, and found Mihoshi leaning against her broom, fast asleep and snoring away.  Ayeka's eyes narrowed as she stared at the detective first class. 

          "How can she...?"  She stomped over to where Mihoshi stood and, gripping her own broom tight, swung and knocked the Galaxy Police Officer's broom out from under her chin.  Mihoshi fell forward and hit the dirt hard.  She quickly got to her knees and looked around, confused.

          "What happened?" she asked, honestly bewildered.  Ayeka stood over her and pointed at Mihoshi's broom, lying in the dirt a few feet away.

          "You fell asleep while sweeping, again!" she shouted.  "Honestly, how one person can require so much rest is beyond me."

          A look of shock fell over Mihoshi's face.  "Oh my!" she cried, and scrambled over to her broom.  "Oh my!  I'm so sorry, Ayeka!  I really didn't mean to!  It's just so nice out today, and the sun's so warm."  She got to her feet and started sweeping away at the sidewalk again.  "And then the breeze came up, and I smelled the cherry blossoms, and everything was so perfect, well, I just couldn't help myself."

          Ayeka turned back to her own sweeping.  "Yes, well, let's just get this done so we can help Grandfather inside, shall we?  And could you be so kind as to start toward the steps while I get the entryway?" Ayeka said, sweeping off the path that led to the shrine entrance while pointing back toward the steps that led down to the Masaki house.

          "Yeah, sure!" she said, trotting to the other side of  the courtyard.

          "Thank you, Mihoshi."  The next few minutes were as peaceful as the rest of the morning had been, the swooshing of the brooms falling into pace with the nature that surrounded them.  It wasn't long before Ayeka realized that she no longer could hear the sounds of Mihoshi's broom coming from behind her.  She began to wonder if Mihoshi had fallen asleep again when the detective spoke up.

          "Um, Ayeka?"

          "Yes, Mihoshi, what is it?"

          "That's really pretty, isn't it?  But I wonder what it is?"

          "What are you babbling about now?" Ayeka said, turning to look at Mihoshi, who was standing at the top of the stairs.  She was pointing toward the lake at the base of the hill.  From the small island in the center of the lake, hundreds of thin, multicolored lines were shooting skyward from the lone tree that dominated the tiny spot of land.

          Ayeka dropped her broom.

          Katsuhito Masaki was kneeling before the shrines alter, replacing the candles that had all but burned out, when he felt a bit of a twinge deep in his mind.  He smiled and gently replaced the candles. At that moment, the door to the shrine slid open.  He turned and saw Ayeka standing in the doorway, as proper as ever, hands folded gently in front of her.

          "Brother Yosho," she said softly.  "I believe you should come outside for a moment."

          "Yes Ayeka, I know," he said, rising and walking toward his half sister.  "Funaho calls,  but it is not for me," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder.  She looked into his bespectacled eyes, not quite understanding what he meant.  He smiled at her.

          Washu looked up from her work as one of the many computer screens floating in front of her began to beep.  She turned to the flashing screen, and all the other panels disappeared as the active one slid down in front of her.  A keyboard emerged from nowhere and the red-headed genius started typing.

          "Well," she said, reading the data as it scrolled across her screen.  "Just when things were starting to get boring around here."

          "Hurry up, Ryoko," cried Sasami, standing over the stove and yelling at the completely soaked and flustered demon-woman.  "I need that large pot to boil the noodles in."

          Ryoko handed the stirring spoon she had just washed to her double, who grabbed it with two fingers, dropped it in the rinse water, and yawned.  "All right, all right, hold your horses!  I've only got four hands you know."  She turned to her double.  "Hand me that pot over there, would you?"  Ryoko's double looked up, sighed, and grabbed the handle of the large pot beside her, promptly causing the large stack of dishes on top of it to go crashing to the floor.  Ryo-oh-ki jumped at the noise, scampering to hide behind the island.  The double looked around sheepishly, handed the pot to Ryoko, and disappeared.

          Sasami bowed her head and sighed.  "Ryoko."

          "What!" Ryoko shouted, waving the pot over her head.  A clump of oatmeal slid out of the pot and landed with a wet "plop!" on Ryoko's head.  She growled, dropped her arms, and gripped the pot tight in her hands.  The pot glowed bright red for an instant, then vaporized.  Sasami was horrified.

          "Ryoko!" she shouted, running across the kitchen and looking quickly from the spot where the pot used to be and up at Ryoko's pleased face.  "I needed that!  Why did you do that?"

          Ryoko grinned as she picked soggy oatmeal from her hair.  "Hey, it's clean now, isn't it?  Besides, we've got plenty of pots.  Use another one."

          "Oh, Ryoko!  That's not the point!" Sasami said, turning away from Ryoko and stomping over to the cupboard to grab another pot.  "You have to do things the way you're supposed to."

          "Oh, I don't know," Ryoko said, "that sounds boring to me."  She pulled the last of the oatmeal from her hair and rinsed her hand off.  "It's more fun when you ignore the rules.  You should try it some time."

          "That's the way things are though.  You can't do everything your way all the time."

          "Hey missy," Ryoko said, drops of water flying from her hand as she shook her finger at Sasami.  "My way works pretty good for me, alright, so I don't need you telling me what I can and can't do."

          "But it's true," Sasami said, standing up and turning back toward Ryoko, new pot in hand.  She handed it to Ryoko.  "Could you fill this with water, please.  People don't like it when you're obnoxious."

          Ryoko snatched the pot from Sasami and placed it under the faucet.  "And people don't like little girl's who are know-it-all's, either," she said, turning away from Sasami and starting the water running.  "Sounding more like her sister every day," Ryoko grumbled under her breath as the pot filled.  She shut off the water and turned around to see Sasami standing behind her with her head bowed over, and her shoulders shaking slightly.  Ryoko sighed, setting the pot  down on the counter behind her.  _Now you've done it, you lunkhead,_ she thought.  _You've gone and made her cry._

          "Hey, Sasami," she said, "I didn't mean it, really."  Sasami started to shake a bit harder.  Ryo-oh-ki poked her head out from behind the island, looking worriedly at Sasami.  Ryoko kneeled down in front of her.  "You don't need to cry.  I was just a little upset because I was messing up your kitchen so bad, that's all."  She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, lifting her chin with the other hand.  "So cheer up already..."

          Ryoko gasped as she saw that Sasami's eyes were rolled almost completely back in her head, and her face was incredibly pale.  As Ryoko held on to the young princess, she started shaking violently, and the marks on her forehead started to glow a brilliant emerald.  Ryo-oh-ki meowed in fright and ran from the kitchen.  For probably the first time in her life, Ryoko was truly frightened as Sasami's body jerked back and forth in her hands.

          "Sasami!" shouted Ryoko, gripping her shoulders tight.  "Hey!  Snap out of it kid!"  Suddenly, her violent shaking ceased, and her eyes snapped forward.  "Sasami," Ryoko said, looking her in the eyes.  "You okay?"  Sasami seemed to stare directly through Ryoko, as if she wasn't even there, and then, without warning, threw her head back and let loose the most bloodcurdling scream Ryoko had ever heard.

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          "Amos, bring us alongside and match speed, then just let it drift right into the airlock."  Rodger turned from his control panel and adjusted the main view screen to display the image of the life pod as it floated freely in space.  It really did look in a bad way, especially close up.

          "Yes, sir," replied Amos, his A.I. unit rolling in its tracks over to the thruster controls.  "Adjusting course 2.5 degrees to starboard, reducing speed to one-third."

          Adrian watched from the pilot's seat, not offering any help, but not actively protesting the rescue, either.  "Look at that thing, you guys," he said, leaning forward in his seat a little.  "No way anything's alive in there.  It's all beat to hell."

          "Amos, stand by airlock control," Rodger said, ignoring his partner's cynicism.  "And have some 'bots standing by to secure the life ball."

          "Yes sir."

          Adrian sat back in his chair and watched as the pod drifted closer to the ship, and felt the deck shudder slightly under his feet as the starboard airlock slid open.  He shifted about in his seat, trying to get comfortable.  Rodger and Amos went about their work, paying him no mind at all.  Finally he stood to leave. "This is pointless," he said, not really expecting either of them to notice.  "I'm getting a drink."  He walked from the room, and the doors slid shut behind him.  Rodger looked up from his screen and grinned at Amos.

          "So, the bastard's not quite as heartless as he looks."

          "Why do you say that, sir?"

          Roger nodded at the doors.  "He couldn't stand being in here and not doing anything.  He's probably halfway to the galley right now, griping to himself about how stupid this is, trying to make himself feel better 'bout the whole thing."

          "You humans are too complex for me to figure logically."

          "Yeah, well real feelings do that to you, you know.  Not like those idiotic programs you try to pass off as emotions."

          "I don't follow, sir."

          "Get back to work, Amos."

          "Yes sir."

          Adrian downed a shot of sake`, grimaced, and slammed the small porcelain cup down  on the table, completely cracking the glass.  Maybe it actually was better when drank warm?

          "God, I need a beer."

          He stood, tossed the broken glass in the waste basket, and walked from the galley.  As the doors slid shut behind him, he felt the _Amos'_ deck shudder slightly again, telling him that the airlock was now closed, and that stupid life ball was now on board.  "Great," he muttered, shaking his head.  "One more distraction to keep us from finding some ore."  He could feel his bonus check slipping from his fingers, and along with it his promotion and command of a larger, newer ship.  One with a real crew, not just an out-dated A.I. and some superstitious idiot of a spacer.  Well, the company doesn't reward you for finding nothing, so they'd just have to stay out a bit longer, that was all.  If Amos was right about this sector, they were bound to find something to take back to the company.

          But what if Rodge was right, and they weren't going back?

          Adrian found himself standing next to the inner door of the starboard airlock.  He wondered briefly how he'd ended up there, then curiosity got the better of him, and he looked through the window at the worn and tattered life ball that was now sitting in the small room, getting fussed over by a half dozen 'bots.  It really was a mess.

          "Couldn't stay away, could you, sir?"

          Adrian looked up to see Amos hanging from the ceiling in front of him.  "Shove it, you damned 'bot," he said, shouldering his way past the A.I. unit and continued down the hall.  He met Rodger coming down the passageway from the bridge.  "Have fun with your new beach ball," he mumbled as they passed.  "Looks like it could use a few patches, though."

          Rodger looked over his shoulder and watched as Adrian disappeared around the bend, not quite knowing how to respond.  He shook his head, and continued down the hall.  Amos was waiting for him by the airlock.

          "What's the story, Amos?"

          "I'm picking up extremely weak life signs, sir.  Internal atmosphere is consistent with our own.  The occupant appears to be humanoid."

          "All right.  Let's get it to medical."

          "Yes, sir."

          The soft, textured surface of the life ball parted along one of its seams, the softer parts falling in on itself as the two atmospheres equalized.  The 'bots swarmed over the ball, clicking and humming as they worked to stabilize their patient's condition.  Rodger watched from the other side of the room as four of the bots gently lifted a man from inside and carried him over to the examining table.  As soon as the 'bots backed away, a vast array of instruments and sensors dropped from the ceiling, some attaching themselves to his body, others scanning and probing the unconscious man.  He was a dark haired man, probably in his late twenty's or early thirties, but Rodger had seen enough of the universe to know that physical appearance wasn't that great of a way to judge age.  His face was handsome, though it appeared cold and chiseled, accented by a couple of days worth of stubble on his chin and cheeks.  But what really caught Rodger's attention was the dark blue Galaxy Police Academy sweats he was wearing, which were quite dirty and torn in a few spots.  After a couple of minutes watching the medical program at work, Rodger looked over at Amos, who had been silently overseeing the operation.

          "Well?" Rodger asked.

          "He should be dead," said Amos, not looking at Rodger.

          "You know he's a cop, right?"

          "It would appear so, but Academy sweats do not make one an officer.  He has no I.D. on him, sir, nor is there anything else in the pod."

          "Well, he's been through a lot, whoever he is."  Rodger leaned back against a cabinet and folded his arms, only to be shoved out of the way a second later by a 'bot grabbing a bottle of thick-looking blue liquid off the shelf behind him.

          "Like I said, sir, he should be dead.  Adrian was right.  These pods are only designed to work for three or four days, a week if you're unconscious.  From what I could salvage from the pod's computer, it has been over three months since it launched."

          "Damn," Rodger said, shaking his head.  "Impressive."

          "Impossible," corrected Amos.  "The computer must have been scrambled.  It's obvious both pod and survivor have had an incredibly difficult time, and this is not a terribly advanced escape module.  When I have stabilized the survivor, I will try to retrieve more information from the pod."

          "Where was it launched from?"

          "The data is too corrupted to tell."

          "Of course.  So how is he?"

          "He'll live.  He's in shock compounded with a mild concussion.  A few cuts and bruises, but no broken bones.  Mild dehydration, but nothing to worry about there.  He should wake in a few hours.  What has me puzzled, though, is this."  Amos slid over to the exam table, and a holographic image of the man appeared, floating directly over the table.  Rodger walked over to the table and started looking over the hologram.

          "I don't see anything."

          "Look at this hole in his shirt, here on his chest," Amos said.  A red circle surrounded a hole in the man's sweatshirt, about six inches down from his left shoulder.

          "So?" Rodger said.  "His clothes are a mess.  He was bound to put a few rips in them."

          "Now look at this one here on his back," Amos said as the hologram rotated a hundred eighty degrees, so that they were now looking at his back.  Another hole was there, in about the same spot as the other.

          "I'm not following."

          "Look," Amos said, and the hologram became transparent, a red line drawing itself between the two holes, passing right through his heart.  Rodger looked up at Amos.

          "Are you sayin' what I'm thinkin'?"

          "I don't know about that, sir, but I do know the odds of these two holes lining up like this, and of both being so close in size to the other, are quite low."

          "And I think you're nuts.  He's not even bruised there, much less a scratch, so why don't you worry more about his health than his clothes."

          "Very well, sir."  The hologram disappeared.

          "Is Adrian on the bridge?"

          "Yes sir."

          "Good.  I'm going to bed."  He nodded at their patient.  "Wake me when he comes around, would you?"

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          Washu stared intently at her screen as the machine took its final scan of Sasami, who was fast asleep on the examination table.  The scanner fed its information to Washu's computer as it finished its work, tucking itself away neatly into subspace.  Washu's brow furled as she read the results of the exam.

          "Damnit!" she shouted, jumping to her feet and drop-kicking the computer.  Sasami stirred slightly in bed, but didn't wake.  Washu looked down at the little girl, who appeared to be sleeping quite peacefully, and ran a hand across Sasami's cheek.  "What happened to you, dear Sasami?  I can't help if I don't know, so you must wake up soon so you can tell me, okay?"

          Sasami reached up and gently grabbed Washu's hand, hugging it to her cheek, but didn't wake.

          Tenchi sighed.  It wasn't like Washu to keep them waiting like this, and he was starting to worry that Sasami might be in real danger.  He sighed again and got to his feet, rubbing his back and stretching.  His stomach growled.  With Sasami sick, nobody had made dinner.  He looked around at the women scattered about.  Ayeka was sitting on the couch, glancing every few moments at Washu's door, where Mihoshi had fallen asleep leaning against the wall.  Ryoko was sulking in the rafters.  Katsuhito was next to Ayeka, sitting quite still and looking very calm, as usual.

          Tenchi felt a tug on his shirt, and he looked down to see Ryo-Chan looking up at him worriedly.  "Don't worry," he said, forcing himself to smile a little.  "I'm sure Sasami will be fine."  His stomach growled again.  "Come on, Ryo-Chan," he said, taking her hand.  "Let's go make some sandwiches for everybody."

          At that moment, the closet door under the stairs opened, and Washu emerged, promptly tripping over Mihoshi, who immediately woke up and started apologizing incessantly.  By the time Washu was standing again, she found herself completely surrounded and getting bombarded by questions from every direction.

          "Now hold on a minute!" shouted Washu, throwing up her hands.  "Can't a genius get a moments peace around here?"

          "Miss Washu," pleaded Ayeka, stepping forward.  "How is she?  Is she going to be all right?  You were in there for hours."

          "She's going to be fine.  Other than a case of extreme exhaustion, there is absolutely nothing wrong with her."

          "The hell there isn't," Ryoko said, pushing to the front of the group.  "You didn't see her in the kitchen earlier.  People don't just freak out like that, Washu.  _Sasami_ doesn't just freak out like that.  Something happened to her."

          Washu looked over at Ryoko and waved a hand through the air.  Ryoko suddenly found her lips sealed as a zipper pulled itself across her mouth.  "As usual, Ryoko," Washu said, "You're not listening to me.  What I said was that there's nothing wrong with her _now_.  I never said that nothing had happened to her."

          "But Miss Washu," said Tenchi, "What was it?  What happened to Sasami?"

          Washu looked around at the group crowding around her, then quite cheerfully and pointedly said, "I have no idea."

          Everybody collapsed from shock, except for Katsuhito, who was still on the couch, sitting very still and beginning to snore.

          Ayeka was the first to get to her feet.  She grabbed Washu by the shoulders and started to shake her.  "How can that be, Washu?" she shouted.  "You know everything!"

          "Kkkkkkknnnnnnnooooccccckkkkkk iiiiitttttt ooooofffff!!!!!!" shouted Washu, slapping Ayeka's hands aside.  She shook her head clear, then said, "Look, everyone, I know you're worried about her, and so am I, but I can't say exactly what happened, other than she suffered some sort of severe trauma."

          "Damnit, Washu!" shouted Ryoko, materializing behind Ayeka.

          "Hey, I thought I'd fixed you," Washu said, Ryoko's zipper reappearing.  A light on her wrist watch started blinking.  She looked down at it and smiled.  "Good.  She's waking up.  And I was just starting to worry."

          Ayeka glared at Washu.  "And just what is there to worry about if there's nothing wrong with her?"

          Washu grinned and waved off Ayeka's comment.  "Hey, don't worry!  Let's all go see how she's doing, okay?"  She turned and opened the door to her subspace lab, and the whole crew followed her in.

          All except Katsuhito, who was now stretched out completely on the couch and snoring away quite peacefully.

          Sasami felt as though she were falling, twisting through some unreal nightmare.  Though part of her knew that this was only a dream, she couldn't help but feel a bit frightened, for all around her was darkness.  She looked around, trying to find something that her mind could grasp, something that would tell her what this was all about, but all she could see was the inky blackness, complete and engulfing, adding to the feeling of apprehension that was pressing down on her.

          A glint of light in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she turned to see her own reflection staring back at her.  The Sasami standing in front of her looked exactly like her, only dressed differently.  Instead of the green and yellow kimono that Sasami usually wore, she was wearing the more traditional, flowing white robes of the court of Jurai.  Sasami looked down at herself, surprised to see that she was wearing the same robes.  Surprise turned to shock as she realized that she was now older, almost full grown.  She looked back at her reflection and found the mature Sasami there, smiling.

          "Welcome, sister," her reflection said, holding her arms out in welcome.

          A cool chill swept through the dream, and she was now herself again, eight years old and dressed in her bright, comfortable clothes.  The older Sasami stepped forward and embraced her in the warmest, most sincere hug Sasami had ever experienced.  At first she resisted the urge to lose herself in the arms of her shadow, knowing that this was simply a vision, and she would eventually have to wake.  At length, however, the power of the embrace became too much to resist and she gave herself over to its comfort and love.

          But as she did, everything changed, and she pulled back.  Washu now stood where Sasami's reflection had been, looking much older than usual, and yet, in many ways, more beautiful as well.  Washu grinned at her, and as Sasami watched, she started to draw away, fading into the shadows that surrounded them.  An intense feeling of loneliness suddenly filled Sasami's heart, crushing her chest and drawing her up short.  She started to run towards Washu, but the harder she ran, the faster Washu seemed to fade.  She tried to shout Washu's name, but no words escaped her lips.  Washu looked Sasami in the eyes, and the feeling of loneliness deepened as she realized Washu didn't recognize her. Washu turned away from her, facing the darkness, and seemed to step through a door that wasn't there, and Sasami was alone in the black void.

          She ran forward, on the verge of tears, and now she really was falling, trying to call for help, but remaining as silent as the darkness that engulfed her.

          And all was black.

          "Washu-Chan!"

          Sasami sat bolt upright in bed, drenched in sweat, her blanket falling from her shoulders.  She stared straight ahead for a moment, her eyes wide.  Slowly, she became aware of other people around her, and she took a look around the room.  She was sitting in a bed in what could only be Washu's lab, and everyone was standing around her, with various expressions of relief on their faces.  Ryo-oh-ki meowed and jumped up in her lap.  Washu smiled at her.

          "Hey, kiddo," she said.  "Welcome back!  You really had us worried there for a bit!"

          "What?" Sasami said, confused.  "Back?  What's going on?"

          Mihoshi couldn't contain herself any longer.  She burst into tears and threw herself across the bed, grabbing Sasami in a bear hug.  "Oh Sasami!" she cried.  "I'm so glad you're okay!"

          "Mihoshi!" Sasami gasped, trying to push her off.  "I can't breath!"

          "Watch it, you dunce!" Ryoko said, grabbing Mihoshi from behind and pulling her off the girl.  Tenchi jumped forward and pulled them both away from the bed.

          "Take it easy you guys," he cried.  "Give her a minute to wake up, why don't you?"

          "Tenchi," Sasami said, looking up at the young man.  "What's going on?  Why is every-one so worried?"

          "You were in the kitchen with Ryoko," Ayeka said, taking a seat next to the bed and grasping Sasami's hands in her own.  "And then you got sick and fainted."

          "Don't you remember any of that?" Tenchi asked, depositing Ryoko and Mihoshi in a couple of chairs next to the wall.

          "No, I don't," Sasami said, looking down in her lap.  "Last thing I remember, I was getting lunch ready, and then I woke up in here.  I was really scared."

          Washu stepped forward and patted her on the back.  "Well, there's nothing to be scared about now, because there's absolutely nothing wrong with you!"

          Sasami looked up at her.  "Than why was everyone worried?"

          "Because we care about you," said Tenchi.

          "That's right!" added Washu.  "I think you were just overworked."  A computer popped up next to her and she rapidly typed away on the keyboard.  A second later a piece of paper spit out the side.  Washu tore it off and handed it to Sasami.

          She looked the paper over.  "What's this, Miss Washu?"

          "A prescription for some rest and relaxation!"

          "That's a good idea, Sasami," Tenchi said.  "You work harder than anyone around here.  You deserve a break."

          "You sure do!  No work for you for at least a week!"

          Sasami looked horrified.  "But how's everyone going to eat?"

          "Don't worry about that!" Ryoko said, jumping out of her seat.  "I'll whip up meals like you've never seen before!"

          "You've got that right," Ayeka mumbled under her breath.  Electricity filled the room as Ryoko shot an evil glare at the princess.

          "Here we go," sighed Tenchi.

         "Oh no!" cried Mihoshi, ducking behind her chair.  Washu reached into subspace and pulled out a shield, placing it around Tenchi, Sasami, and herself.

          "Care to say that a little louder this time?"

          "If you wish," Ayeka said, folding her hands in her lap.  "I was just thinking of you trying to prepare a meal without destroying everything in sight, that's all really."

          "I'll have you know, princess," Ryoko said, drawing herself up to full height, the air around her charging with energy, "I can cook a hell of a lot better than you any day of the week."  Ryo-oh-ki meowed and buried herself under Sasami's blankets.

          "Oh ho ho, Ryoko,"  Ayeka laughed, slowly rising to her feet.  Tenchi and the gang braced themselves for the inevitable battle that was sure to follow.  Ayeka drew in a deep breath,  turned away from Ryoko, and said, "As much as I'd love to prove you wrong, my dear, I simply do not have the time to fight with you right now."

          The energy surrounding Ryoko disappeared with an audible 'poof!'.  "Say what?"

          Washu blinked her eyes in surprise a few times.  "Well," she said, dropping the shield that surrounded Sasami's bed.  "That's a new one on me."

          "Are they done already?" Mihoshi asked, poking her head out from behind her chair.  "My, that was quick."

          "What do you mean, 'no time to fight?'" Ryoko demanded.  "You always have time to fight!"

          "I am genuinely sorry, Ryoko," Ayeka said.  "I would truly delight in settling our differences here and now."  She stepped over to Sasami's bedside and looked down at her sister.  "But now that Sasami is better, I must tell everyone that the two of us have been called back to Jurai."

          "What!?!?" everyone shouted at once.

          "Yes, it is true" Ayeka said.

          Sasami pushed her covers off and swung her legs over the side of the bed.  "Going to Jurai?  Ayeka, when did this happen?"

          "This morning when I was up at the shrine.  Our mothers called Brother Yosho's tree, Funaho.  Father is celebrating the two-thousandth anniversary of his coronation at the end of the month, and you and I are to attend."

         "This is perfect, Sasami!" Tenchi said, smiling at her.  "You get to go on a vacation and see your parents.  You'll have fun!"

          "Yeah, it will be fun, won't it Tenchi?" Sasami said, grinning up at him.  Ryoko suddenly materialized next to Tenchi, grabbing him around the chest and pulling him in close to her.

          "Yeah, Sasami, it'll be loads of fun!" she said, gripping Tenchi tight to her bosom.

          "Let go of me Ryoko!" Tenchi cried, trying to pry loose of Ryoko's death grip.

          "Now you two just go on to daddy's little party and have lots of fun, and don't worry about a thing here.  Tenchi and I will take care of everything while you're gone."

          "Ryoko!" Tenchi shouted, still trying to squirm free.

          "Oh, but Ryoko," Ayeka said, exhibiting a degree of control rather out of character for her, considering Ryoko's shameless handling of Tenchi.  "Tenchi will be coming with us."

          "What!?!?" everyone shouted again.

          Tenchi fell to the floor as Ryoko let go of him in surprise.  "You have got to be kidding me!" Ryoko growled.

          "Mother Funaho insisted that he join us for the celebration.  She feels that it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce him to the royal court.  I think it's a great idea."

          "I'll bet you do," mumbled Ryoko, clenching her fists.

          Sasami hugged Tenchi from behind as he sat up next to the bed, still shaking off the effects of Ryoko's bear hug.  "I get to go on vacation with Tenchi!" she cried.  "This is great!"

          "If you think I'm just gonna stand by while you take off for Jurai with Tenchi, Princess, you've got another thing coming!" Ryoko said, stepping between Ayeka and Tenchi.  "No way I'm going to let you spend that much time alone with him."

          "I think it's a terrific idea."

          Everyone turned toward the lab entrance, where Katsuhito had just entered.  Nobuyuki stepped through the doorway behind him.

          "Hi there, Sasami," Nobuyuki said, waving at the young princess.  "How ya feelin'?"

          "Much better, thank you," she said, smiling.

          Katsuhito walked over to Ayeka and put his hands on her shoulders.  "So, what do you say, Tenchi?  Will you be Ayeka's escort for this trip, or will I have to do the honors?"

          "Hey, wait a minute!" Tenchi said, getting to his feet.  "Everyone just slow down!  I can't go to a party on Jurai!  I wouldn't know how to act or anything."

          "Good!" Katsuhito said, grinning.  "That means I get to go instead."  Ayeka elbowed him in the gut.

          "You can just knock it off!"  She turned to Tenchi.  "It's a long trip to Jurai.  I can teach you what you need to know before we get there."

          "Yeah, Tenchi," Sasami said, crawling off the bed.  "We'll help you.  It's not really that hard at all.  You just have to smile a lot and say nice things like 'thank you very much' and 'I'm pleased to meet you.'"

          "Oh Sasami," Ayeka sighed.  "That's not all you need to know."

          "That seems to be what I remember," said Katsuhito.

          Tenchi sighed and bowed his head.  "Oh brother," he mumbled.  "How do I get into these things?"

          "Azaka!  Kamidake!" Ayeka shouted.  A moment later the two guardians appeared at her side.

          "Yes Princess, we are here," they said.  Ayeka turned to face Azaka.

          "Azaka, Kamidake, prepare Ryu-oh for departure.  Tomorrow morning we leave for Jurai."

          "Yes, Princess Ayeka," they said, disappearing.  Tenchi didn't have to look around to picture the expressions on everyone's face.

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          He couldn't see much through all the smoke and haze, but what he could see didn't look too good.  Pipes were bursting all around him, and people were running scared, some with a  purpose, others out of panic.  The deep rumble of distant explosions carried down the passageways, bringing with them more smoke and the putrid smell of destruction.  Klaxons flashed red and the P.A. speakers screamed announcements and warnings as the situation rapidly deteriorated.  The deck beneath his feet heaved with the shock of a nearby explosion, and he stabilized himself against a bulkhead as the whole of the station seemed to groan in pain.  Things were definitely not looking good.

          He looked around, trying to figure out exactly where he was.  He knew he was close to where he wanted to be, but with all the smoke and confusion, it was difficult to tell for sure.  That, and this was an exceptionally large station.  He could see nothing through the smoke to help him determine his location, so he continued down the passageway.  A panicked voice started to shout something over the P.A., only to be cut off by a loud burst of static as another shock wave worked its way through the station.  He pushed on through the smoke, moving further down the passage.  He knew he had to be close.  He came to an intersection, and decided to go right.

          Here the smoke wasn't as thick, being in a part of the station that was well removed from the majority of the destruction, and he found the going much quicker.  Before long, he passed a bulkhead marking that told him he was near the outer hull, and he knew for certain that he was on the right track.  He heard some people running up behind him, and looked over his shoulder to see a small group forming behind him.

          "The life pods are this way, right?" one of the men near the front shouted as they ran.

          "Seems that way.  Everything's shot to hell, and the normal escape routes are scraped.  Any of you know this section?"

          There was no answer as the bulkhead next to them exploded, and he found himself flying down the passageway, carried by the shock wave.  He hit the deck so hard that he felt his shoulder crumple.  He cried out in pain and grasped his arm as the air around him filled with smoke.  He felt secondary explosions ripple through the deck, and he slowly sat up, bracing himself against the bulkhead.  He felt something running down the sides of his face and touched his cheek with his good hand.  His fingers slid across his skin as though he were touching ice.  He brought his hand down, and was not surprised to see it covered in blood.  He wondered vaguely why he equated a bloody cheek to ice, and then realized it was because he felt deathly cold.  _Shock,_ he told himself.  _I'm in shock_.  He looked away from his bloody hand at the swirling smoke around him, the flickering light of the fires shone through at odd angles, causing the smoke to move as if alive.  It reminded him of a parade he'd seen once where a large group of men had worn a brightly decorated costume resembling a serpent and danced up and down the street, moving fluidly, gracefully.

          He forced himself to stand, using the wall to pull himself up, and started down the passageway again, heading for the life pods.  If there were any left.  The smoke in front of him grew thicker.

        And then he saw a shadow moving through the smoke just ahead.  The person was obviously a woman; slender, with long hair that was rather thick and wild at the top.  He shouted at her, but whether she responded or not he would never know.  Another explosion erupted behind him, throwing him to the deck again, and blowing the smoke in the passageway clear.  He looked up, and saw the woman stepping through a hatch and into a life pod.  She paused for a second and looked down the hall to where he lay.  She was young, in her mid-twenty's, for all he could tell, with a sharp, angular face and bright red hair.  She was wearing a Science Academy uniform.  _Funny,_ he thought, _the Science Academy never sends anyone here._  Their eyes locked for a moment.  Her eyes, he knew, he would always remember.  The way the red in her hair contrasted perfectly with the green in her eyes.  The way they gazed at him, so calm and dispassionately.  So removed, as if to say 'oh well, would have been nice to meet you under better circumstances.'  And then the hatch slammed shut, and he felt the deck rumble as her pod launched, and the world around him was on fire.

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          Adrian kicked back in his chair, slamming his boots down on the console.  They were just nearing the border to sector #6654.887, and long-range scans had yet to pick up any sign of asteroids.  He sighed as he gave their plight some thought.  They were two months out, with just enough supplies for a two-man crew, had yet to locate any salvageable ore, and they just had to happen upon a drifting life ball.  And the jerk was still alive, to boot.  The way Adrian saw it, his luck so far had been holding true.  It just all happened to be bad.

          Well, not all of it.  They had gotten that sake` from that freighter.

          "I really need a beer," he sighed.  A monitor next to him flashed on, and a message printed out across the top.  Adrian read it without expression.  "No shit," he mumbled.

          A steady, high pitched beeping worked its way into Rodger's sleep.  Slowly, his subconscious realized that it was not his imagination, and he rolled onto his back, kicking the covers off the bed.

          "What?" he moaned, not bothering to open his eyes.

          "Another five seconds, and I was going to give you a shock."

          "Damnit, Amos."  Rodger grabbed the chronometer off of his nightstand and stared at it through sleep-filled eyes.  The numbers it showed did not agree with him at all.  "How long have I been out?"

          "A little over an hour sir."

          Rodger groaned and tossed the chronometer to the foot of his bed.  "Tell me he's awake, or get your system ready for a really nasty virus that I'm cooking up as we speak."

         "He's not awake yet, but he is coming around."  Amos turned the lights in Rodger's stateroom up a little.  "The patient has exhibited some rather interesting R.E.M. patterns within the last few minutes."

          "Alright," Rodger said, rolling out of bed.  "I'll be down in a few minutes."

          "Yes, sir," Amos said, turning Rodger's lights on fully. 

          Her eyes.

          He awoke with a start, his heart racing.  He instantly knew that he had no idea where he was. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, allowing his heart to slow.  His head felt light and dizzy, causing him to feel a bit nauseous.

          "Good morning, sir," said a slightly mechanical voice off to the side.  He opened his eyes and slowly sat up on his elbows.  A small robotic dome that was attached to the ceiling by a series of rods slid over to face him.  He looked it over and decided he must be on a spaceship somewhere, probably in its medical bay.  Most hospitals didn't have robotic interfaces like this.

          "Morning," he said, rubbing his temple.  "What have you guy's been feeding me?  My head's kind of dizzy."

          "Nothing more than your basic medicinal cocktail.  The side effects should wear off in a few moments.  You should lay down, sir.  I can raise the back slightly, if you like."

          "Sure," he said, laying down again.  The back of the bed rose to a gentle sitting position.  "So are there any people on this ship, or what?"

          "You are on board the _Amos_, and Rodger will be down in a moment."

          "Great."  He closed his eyes again, the dizziness in his head beginning to settle down.  "So what am I doing here, anyway?"

          "As I said, sir, you are on the survey ship _Amos_.  We found your life pod drifting in space near sector #6654.887.  We brought you on board approximately two hours ago."

          He chuckled slightly.  "Life pod, eh?  Didn't think I'd made it in."

          "You are lucky to be here, sir.  Your pod had exceeded it's rated abilities.  Quite frankly, I don't know how you survived."

          The door slid open, and he opened his eyes as a large, well-built man walked into the room.  "Rodger, I assume?" he asked.

          "Shit, you're awake," the man said, looking him over.  He turned toward the A.I. unit.  "Hey, Amos, where the hell's Rodge?  Thought he'd be down here."

          "He's on his way down now, sir."  As Amos spoke, the door slid open again, and another man, thinner and clean-shaven, stepped into the room.

          The patient pointed at the newcomer.  "Rodger, right?"

          "Good, you're awake," Rodger said, side-stepping Adrian and walking over to the bed.  They shook hands.  "Yeah, I'm Rodger."  He gestured back at Adrian.  "And the foul mood here's Adrian.  I apologize on his behalf."

        "Yeah okay whatever," Adrian muttered.  "Hey Rodge, why don't you leave the baby-sitting to the 'bots?  I need to see you on the bridge."

          "Just give me a few minutes, alright."

          "You've been payin' more mind to that damned life ball than our mission for the last twelve hours anyway, so why not?"  He turned to leave the room.  "Amos," he growled, looking back over his shoulder.  "Get up to the bridge and give me a hand."

          "Yes, sir."  And the two left the room, the door sliding shut behind them.  The patient looked up at Rodger.

          "Charming man."

          Rodger shook his head.  "Yeah, well he's not all that bad normally.  We haven't found any ore since we put out two months ago, so I don't blame him for being a little rough."

          "Surveyors, eh?  By the way, I'm Lieutenant Shinjiro Yakagamo with the G.P.  Guess I owe you guy's a big one."

          "I figured you were a cop," Rodger said, nodding at Shinjiro's sweats.  "And don't mention it."  He grabbed a chair from the wall and sat down next to the bed.  "So what's your story, if you don't mind?"

          Shinjiro sat up straight in the bed and adjusted the back to a more upright position.  "That's better.  No, I don't mind at all, though there's not much to tell.  I was at G.P. headquarters when it blew.  You heard about that, right?"

          Rodger whistled in surprise.  "Yeah, I heard about it all right.  Who hasn't?  But that was months ago, and headquarters was on pretty much the other side of the galaxy.  You're one lucky hombre`."

          It was Shinjiro's turn to be surprised.  "You're kidding?  Months ago, huh?"  He leaned back in his bed and sighed. "Well, in any case, I'm here now, and I owe you one, no matter what you say.  It's funny, though.  I can't remember actually making it into a pod."

          "Yeah, well stress will do that to you.  It's the adrenaline."

          "Sure."

          Rodger stood and pushed his seat back against the wall.  "Well, you should try and rest then.  I'm going to go see what Adrian was all worked up about.  If you need anything, use the terminal there to get in touch with Amos."

          Shinjiro watched as Rodger turned and walked from the room.  He pushed the button to lower the bed, and settled down, letting the softness and warmth take hold.  He was incredibly lucky, he knew, to be alive.  There was no way he should have made it off the station, much less survive for months drifting in space.

         _Well_, he thought, as he started drifting into sleep.  _Someone was certainly looking out for me_.  "Thanks, whoever you are," he mumbled, and then the dreams came.

          Try as he might, though, he couldn't forget her eyes. 

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          She felt a lot younger then she should, and after a moment of looking around, realized that she was in the royal palace on Jurai, and she was running down a corridor toward the large set of double doors at the far end.  It was a dream she'd had before, and she felt a surge of terror well up inside her as she realized what was about to happen.  She tried to stop herself, but the doors opened far more easily than they should have for a three year old girl, just as they had a thousand times before.

          She stepped through the doors.

          She screamed at the child in the dream, pleaded with her not to go any further down the path.  The child just laughed, looking around in amazement at this wonderful new world she had discovered.  So many trees, so tall and beautiful, floating in the air like angels.

          And now all went black, and she was falling.  She closed her eyes tight, so as not to see what was coming, but it was no use.  She felt it, as she always did, in that part of her mind that would never forget.

          She felt the warmth spreading around her, and opened her eyes.  All was black.  The horrible familiarity of the dream had passed, replaced by a new, unfamiliar feeling.  One of deep, penetrating loneliness.  She tried to cry out for help, but no sound escaped her lips.  She lay there for what seemed an eternity, feeling the strength leaking from her tiny body.  She called for help again, not understanding why no one seemed to be looking for her.  She knew there should be someone there, standing next to her, comforting her and telling her that it would be alright.  But no one was coming.  With the last of her strength, she turned her head to the side and looked for that someone who should have been there, but was not.  Her lips formed a name that she knew, but could not remember, and the world dissolved into nothingness as she died.

          And Tsunami never came.

          Sasami woke slowly, the dream slipping from her mind faster then she could hold on to it.  It was still very dark out, with no moonlight shining through the window.  She heard Ayeka breathing softly beside her, fast asleep.  The dream was now completely gone, leaving behind only the feeling that had awakened her.  She wasn't quite sure what that feeling was, only that it had been very powerful, and she hadn't liked it at all.

          She looked over at the clock on the floor against the wall.  It was four-thirty in the morning.  In a few hours, she would be leaving for Jurai.  She smiled at the thought of going on vacation with Tenchi, but the feeling from her dream soon overpowered her excitement about the trip.

          She spent the rest of the night laying on her back, staring at the ceiling, trying to forget the dream she had forgotten.

          --------------------------------------------------------

          "He's a cop, you know," Adrian said as Rodger stepped onto the bridge.

          "A lieutenant, to be precise.  What did you want earlier?"

          "Oh, nothing much," he said, turning to his computer and typing in a few commands.  "Just  to tell you that you were right, and to show you this."  He nodded at the main view screen.  "Looks like there was a battle."  A picture that was obviously taken from a long-range scan popped up on the screen, showing the skeletal remains of a large number of ships floating against the backdrop of a lone, blue planet. The image reminded him of a barren dessert littered with the carcasses of so many dead animals.  Rodger looked at the grainy picture for a moment, then lowered his head and sighed.

          "Told you we shouldn't have come here.  Poor bastards.  Nothing we can do for them, I suppose."

          "Damn straight," Adrian said, taking the picture off the screen.  "Never thought I'd say it, but I shoulda' listened to you in the first place, you and your idiotic spacer superstitions.  I've already turned Amos around."

          Rodger pulled up a seat and poured himself a mug of coffee.  "What about the ore?  Did Amos find any asteroids?"

          "Hell no.  All we found out there were those busted up ships, and I aint goin' anywhere near those, even if there is anything worth salvaging.  I'm no coward, but I aint stupid, neither.  Something ripped into those guys good, and I don't mean to find out what it was."

          "So what's the plan now, fearless leader?" Rodger asked, taking a sip of coffee.

          Adrian sighed and kicked up his feet, plopping his heavy boots on the console.  "Well, the way I see it, we gotta head in.  We're almost out of supplies, and we're heavy one body, thanks to your little detour.  I figure home office will forgive us coming in empty.  We did save that cop, after all.  We won't get any bonus this trip, but I aint gonna lose the _Amos_, at least.  Hell, they might even let you stay aboard."

          "I'm touched by your compassion."  Rodger finished his coffee and rose to his feet.  "Sounds like a plan to me.  I'm going to try and get a little sleep before my watch.  See you in a few."

          "What's his name, anyway?  I'm going to start the report."

          "Shinjiro Yakagamo."

          "Juraian, eh?  This might work out better than I thought."

          Rodger couldn't sleep.  He sighed and sat up in bed, bringing the lights up slowly.  He glanced at his chronometer.  He still had an hour and a half before he had to take the watch from Adrian.

          _I shouldn't have had that cup of coffee,_ he thought, and that reminded him of some other business he had to take care of.

          He stepped out of the head and brought the lights in his stateroom on full, then changed into his work clothes.  He looked in the mirror and thought about shaving, but decided he didn't really feel like it, and headed for the galley.

          He stepped through the galley door and was surprised to see Shinjiro sitting at the table, enjoying a bowl of cereal.  Rodger nodded at him, grabbing an orange from the fruit basket and filling a mug with coffee.  "You want some?" he asked Shinjiro, nodding at the coffee pot.

          "Sure, if you don't mind."

          Rodger picked up another mug.  "Not at all.  Coffee's about the only thing we're not running out of around here."  He filled Shinjiro's mug and set it in front of him, then  pulled up a seat across from the officer.  "You're feeling pretty good, I'd guess."

          "Feeling great, actually.  A little stiff in places, but not bad at all, considering."

          They sat in silence for a bit, Shinjiro finishing off his cereal and Rodger peeling his orange.

          "This might seem a little up front of me," Shinjiro finally said, "but I was wondering if I couldn't take a look at Amos's database."

         Rodger popped a slice of orange in his mouth and chewed at it slowly.  "What for?  He is an older model, after all, and we don't get much news out here.  We didn't even find out about the G.P. incident until a couple of weeks ago."

          "I know it's an odd request, if not a little rude.  He does have all the standard files though, doesn't he?"

          "Of course."

          "Well, this is going to seem weird," he paused and sipped at his coffee.  He stared into the cup of black liquid, as if reaching for something that his mind couldn't quite grasp.  Rodger sat quietly eating his orange and watching him.  "The last thing I remember before waking up in your sickbay," Shinjiro said after a bit, "is a woman."

          Rodger laughed, almost spitting half-chewed orange across the table.  "That explains a lot," he said, swallowing the fruit and chasing it with some coffee.  "Every good story's always about a woman."

          Shinjiro nodded.  "Maybe so."

          "So what's that got to do with Amos's database?"

          "I saw her as I was trying to get to an escape pod.  I'd just gotten knocked on my face by an explosion, and when I looked up I saw her boarding a pod.  She was young, with fiery red hair, and she was wearing a Science Academy uniform.  All Science Academy personnel are registered and cataloged, and that information is placed in every major computer's database.  It keeps them accountable for their actions, knowing that anyone can look them up whenever they want.  Anyway, Amos should have that information, and I wanted to look her up."

          "Well," Rodger said, finishing his orange.  "That's one way to get a girl's number, I guess."

          Shinjiro shook his head.  "That's not it at all.  The Science Academy never sends anyone to Headquarters in person.  They do all their G.P. business through the Juraian government.  Supposedly keeps them neutral.  She shouldn't have been there at all."  He finished off his coffee and plopped the empty mug on the table.  "I don't know, maybe I was seeing things.  I just can't get her out of my mind, though."

          Rodger took Shinjiro's mug and got the two of them a refill.  "Hey, man, don't feel too bad about it.  You've been through a hell of a lot.  She was probably just a student doing some research.  Bad timing on her part, that's all.  By the way, any idea what went wrong?  We haven't heard if they figured out what caused the place to blow or not."

          Shinjiro took his coffee and sighed.  "Oh, I know what happened, all right.  Kain got loose, and he was pissed."

          "Who's Kain?"

          "If you haven't heard of him yet, you will.  He's just about the most dangerous criminal in the universe, that's all.  We had him locked up in subspace.  He got loose somehow, and took out headquarters on his way out the door.  Probably destroyed half the universe by now, if they haven't managed to catch him yet."

          "Well, they must have gotten him, then.  We don't get much news out here, but I'm sure we would've heard about something like that."

          "Hope you're right.  The last time they caught Kain, it required the aid of the Juraian emperor, so the G.P. created an elite team of cops to deal with the really tough criminals.  I'm one of them.  When headquarters went up, most of the special criminals unit went with it.  That'll make things a bit tougher."

          Rodger set his coffee down and stood up.  "Well, like I said, I'm sure we would have heard about it if this Kain guy was still on the rampage.  You want to look for your girlfriend, or what?"

         "Stop it there, Amos," Shinjiro said, leaning forward in his seat and scanning the picture on the monitor.  Rodger had relieved Adrian early, and he and Shinjiro had been searching the Academy records for the last hour and a half.  "That's her, alright."

          Rodger looked over at the screen and whistled.  "So, that's your mystery girl, eh?  No wonder you couldn't forget her.  She's a looker, that's for sure."

          "She's a bit younger here.  This is an older picture, I'd guess.  Show me her info please, Amos."  The picture shrank away into the upper left corner of the screen, and a listing of personal information filled the screen in it's place.  Shinjiro scanned the data quickly.  "Well, she wasn't a student." he said, reading from the screen.  "According to this she was once a professor at the Science Academy, the best they'd ever had.  Cooked up all sorts of crazy and complex devices, and held more patents than anyone in history.  A real genius."  He read a little further on.  "Now this can't be right."

          "What?"

          Shinjiro gestured at the screen.  "According to this, she's over twenty thousand years old."

          Rodger looked at her picture again.  "Wonder what she uses for wrinkle cream.  What's her name?"

          Shinjiro looked back at the top of the screen.  "Washu Hakubi."


	3. And the Road Goes Ever On

-The Advent of Washu-

***********************002**********************

"AND THE ROAD GOES EVER ON"  J.R.R. Tolkien

          A deep, low rumble penetrated Ryoko's bad mood, and she looked skyward as Ryu-oh rose above the trees.  She snorted in disgust and grabbed the flask that was sitting next to her on the rock, draining it's contents in one gulp.  Ryu-oh drifted higher into the sky, passing in front of the sun and covering Ryoko in shadow.  She dropped the flask and stretched out on her rock, watching Ayeka's ship grow smaller as it pulled away.

          "Damn that woman," she muttered, and turned away from the departing ship.  She lay there until she could no longer hear the rumble of Ryu-oh's engines, and then glanced at the sky again.  They were gone.

          "Damn her," she cursed again, grabbing the flask and tipping it to her lips.  She only got a couple of drops out of it, scowled, and tossed it away in disgust.  The morning had been rather uneventful, with Ayeka and Tenchi's departure going smoother than anyone had expected, thanks in large part, Ryoko knew, to her own absence.  She grumbled at her admission of mischief and rolled onto her stomach, placing her hands under her chin.

          "Well, Ryo-oh-ki," she said, "they're gone, and they left us here alone."  She tilted her head to the side and looked at the brush near the rocks.  Ryo-oh-ki's head popped up over the grass, and the cabit meowed happily, hopping into the open toward Ryoko.  She reached the demon woman and rubbed her head against Ryoko's cheek.  She smiled softly and scratched Ryo-oh-ki behind the ears.  "You don't even care, do you?"  Ryo-oh-ki meowed and rolled onto her back so Ryoko could scratch her underbelly.  Ryoko sighed.

          "So, what do you want to do now, huh?"

----------------------------------------------------------------

          "Do you think they'll be okay while we're gone?"  Sasami asked as she watched the earth growing smaller in Ryu-oh's window.

          "They'll be fine," Ayeka said, turning away from the window.  "You worry to much, Sasami.  Brother Yosho is with them, after all."

          "I know," Sasami said, sitting down on the steps.  "That's not what I was worried about, though."

          Tenchi looked away from the earth, which was now nothing more then a rapidly shrinking blue disk against a deep black sky.  "You're still worried about the housework, aren't you?"

          Sasami looked down at her feet.  "Yeah, I guess so."

          Tenchi laughed gently and turned toward the doorway that led off of the bridge.  "They'll be fine, Sasami.  Grandpa won't let them slack off to much."  And then he added, under his breath, "I hope."  He stopped in front of the door and turned to look at the young princess.  "You should forget about them for now and just try to enjoy yourself.  Take a break."

          Sasami turned around and looked at him.  She smiled.  "Okay, Tenchi."

          Tenchi grinned.  "Good!  I'm going to go put my stuff away now."  He turned away from Sasami, his eyes locking with Ayeka's for a moment, and then he left the room, the doors closing behind him.  Ayeka stepped toward the doors herself.

          "I'm going to get settled in too.  You should do the same, Sasami, before you forget."

          Sasami nodded her head.  "Okay, sister.  I just want to watch the earth for a minute."

          Ayeka nodded and walked through the doors.  Sasami watched her leave, and turned back to the window, where the stars were drifting slowly past.  A shred of silver appeared in the corner of her eye, and she turned to watch as the moon slowly came into view, filling the view screen.

          Her head was lowered as she walked down the hall, so that she almost ran into Tenchi.  She took a step back, not looking up.  "I'm sorry, Lord Tenchi," she said quietly.  "I wasn't watching where I was going."

          "Oh, that's okay," he said, smiling and scratching the back of his head.  He looked around the hall for a minute and then turned back to Ayeka.  "Actually, Miss Ayeka, I was kind of lost.  Which way was my room, again?"

          Ayeka looked the hall up and down herself, mildly puzzled, then chuckled.  "You know, we're both on the wrong side of the ship."  She nodded down the hall in the direction she had just came.  "We're down this way."  She turned and started slowly down the passageway.  Tenchi fell in step beside her.

          "I'm glad you came this way, Ayeka.  This is the only ship I've seen where you can get lost in the woods."

          Ayeka smiled.  "And how many ships have you been on?"

          "Ha, I guess you're right," Tenchi laughed.

          Ayeka ran a hand against the wall as they walked, feeling the smooth texture of the wood as it slid by.  "Actually, Ryu-oh is different from most ships.  The most luxurious tree-ships are reserved for the royal family.  The ship is built around the royal tree that we are bonded with when we are very young."  They passed by a large opening in the wall, beyond which could be seen a large field of soft, green grass.  On the far side was a forest of tall, leaf-filled trees.  A small lake lapped gently at the edge of the forest and reached into the middle of the field.  A few birds could be heard singing, and the grass stirred gently in places as some small animal made it's way across the field.  The site struck Tenchi as exactly the wrong thing to see while standing in the middle of a starship.  Ayeka smiled.  "And, of course, the very best wood carvers are commissioned to build the ship, paying the utmost care to respect the royal tree, crafting a ship that will blend flawlessly with the will of the tree."  Tenchi watched as a flock of birds suddenly exploded from one of the trees near the lake, and then the field passed from view, blocked  once more by the walls of the hallway.

          Tenchi sighed as he shifted his gaze down the hall again.  "There's just so much I've still got to learn, sometimes I don't know how I'll ever get it all right."

          They walked in silence for a bit, passing a few more breaks in the wall that opened onto the field. As he thought about what Ayeka had said about the tree-ships, Tenchi found himself wondering at the strange circumstances that he'd found himself in.  Two years ago, he never would have imagined that he'd ever leave Japan (Well, maybe a trip or two to the West for school, but nothing more serious than that.), much less leave earth.  And now here he was, surrounded by alien women, and on his way to another planet to celebrate the coronation of his great-grandfather, the king of the most powerful empire in the universe.  Go figure.

          "She doesn't seem to be herself today, does she?" Ayeka said, breaking the silence.

          "I'm sorry, what was that Ayeka?"

          "Sasami," Ayeka said, looking down at her feet as they walked.  "She's much quieter than usual, don't you think?"

          "Oh, I don't know.  It's been a pretty busy day, after all, and she had a rough time yesterday, too."

          "Yes, I know."  She fingered the hem of her belt, feeling the smooth fabric on her fingertips.  "And that's what worries me, Tenchi," she continued, not looking up.  "It worries me that Miss Washu does not know what happened to her."

          "But Washu said she was fine."

          "Washu doesn't know any more than we do," snapped Ayeka, catching Tenchi a little off guard, "and it scares her."  She lowered her voice again.  "It scares me."

          Tenchi didn't really know what to say.  He put an arm around Ayeka and gently squeezed her shoulder.  "I think this vacation could do us all some good, so let's just think about how much fun it'll be to see your parents again."

          Ayeka placed her hand on top of Tenchi's as it rested on her shoulder, and stopped in front of a door.

          "This is my room," she said, gently lifting his hand off her shoulder.  He smiled at her as she opened the door.

          "Are you going to be alright, Miss Ayeka?"

          "I'll be fine.  I'm tired, that's all."

          "Okay," Tenchi said.  He looked through the doorway into Ayeka's room.  It was just as he remembered from the first time they'd met, complete with large, open windows looking out on the field and lake beyond.  A thought struck him suddenly, and he laughed to himself.  Ayeka looked up.

          "What is it?" she asked.

          Tenchi looked the room over again.  "Oh, I was just thinking.  The original Ryu-oh was destroyed, and Washu grew this one from one of his seeds, didn't she?"

          "Yes, that's right."

          "She did a really good job, didn't she."

          Ayeka looked around, and smiled.  "Yes, she did.  A very good job."  She stepped through the doorway and turned, pointing down the hall.  "That's your room, down at the end of the hall.  I'm going to unpack my things now."

          "Okay.  I'll see you in a little while, then," Tenchi said, turning and walking down the hall.  Ayeka stepped fully into her room, and the door slid silently shut behind her.  She looked around at the familiar surroundings of her room, and had to admit it felt good to be going home.  She smiled at the thought of the look on her father's face when he found out she had brought Tenchi with her.  Ayeka doubted very much that Mother Funaho had told him that Tenchi was coming.  She chuckled to herself, and set about unpacking.

          ---------------------------------------------------------

          "Washu Hakubi," Rodger repeated, kicking back in his chair and sliding back from the console.  He folded his hands behind his head and grinned.  "Sounds like a winner to me, man.  That's one heck of a dream girl you've got there.  Mind if I get me one?"

          "If you like your women ancient and missing, feel free to take mine."

          "Missing?"

          "Yeah, missing," Shinjiro said, closing the file and twisting around in his seat.  "In 5912 she was kidnapped from the Science Academy, and they either haven't found her yet, or they never  updated her file.  Either way, it seems no one's seen her for half a millennia.  I'd classify that as missing.  Heck, she may even be dead by now.  Who knows."

          Rodger thought for a moment.  "So, what are you saying?  You think you saw a ghost?"

          Shinjiro laughed.  "Not a ghost, exactly.  Just an hallucination, or something like that."  He leaned back in his seat and kicked his feet up on the console.  Rodger thought for sure he heard Amos snort in disapproval.  "I was half dead," Shinjiro continued, "Couldn't have told the difference between fantasy and reality if I'd tried."

          Rodger leaned forward and grinned at Shinjiro doubtfully.  "Right, and you just happened to 'hallucinate' a dead girl who's been missing for centuries, and just happened to be registered in a readily accessible database, and match your description exactly."  He sat back in his seat again.  "Sounds to me like you found the missing professor, lieutenant."

          Shinjiro sighed.  "Sounds to _me_ like she didn't want to be found."  He dropped his feet off the console and stood up.  "In any case, I'm going to turn in."

          Rodger slid his chair to the other side of the bridge.  "Alright, man.  Dream me up a girl while you're at it, but I prefer mine blonde."

          Shinjiro chuckled.  "Sure, I'll do my best."

          He couldn't see much through all the smoke and haze, but what he could see didn't look any better than usual.  The station was self-destructing around him, and he didn't care.  He walked slowly down the passageway, watching his world collapse with a sense of detachment that he wasn't used to.  It was a little unsettling.

          A part of him knew that he was close to where he was supposed to be (though he couldn't have said where that was), and he looked around.  The smoke to his right thinned out as he looked in that direction, and he could see some writing on a bulkhead showing through.  A large number thirty-three, painted in red, seemed to jump through the smoke, standing out far clearer than his brain said it should have, considering the smoke that filled the passage.  _Oh well,_ he thought as the smoke thickened, once more covering the loud thirty-three behind a blanket of white, _this is just a dream, after all.  Don't try to make too much sense of it._  He continued down the passageway.

          The smoke was thicker here, with signs of recent explosions showing through here and there.  The light from the fires reflected off the smoke, causing light and shadow to play off the walls of the passageway, dancing and swirling in a sick ballet of deformity.  Something moved at the other end of the hall, and he knew what it was before he was close enough to see, because he had been here before.  He walked toward it anyway.  Her silhouette seemed to glide through the smoke, as if she were beyond the chaos and destruction that surrounded them.  He watched her as she walked, blocking out everything else.  All sight, all sound.  Everything but her.  They were two souls adrift in a sea of fire and smoke, alone in a world that wasn't their own.

          An explosion erupted somewhere behind him, and a wave of superheated air blasted past, pushing the smoke clear.  Everything seemed to slow suddenly as the wave passed over him and struck the woman.  The world cleared in his vision.  Her hair fluttered gently in the wind, flowing smooth as fire, dancing around her face and caressing every curve as she turned to face him.  Their eyes met, and he was lost in that moment again, swimming in the deep green ocean that was her eyes, adrift for all eternity.  Wisps of smoke drifted slowly between them.

          The world returned to normal as the shock wave passed, the force of the wind tearing at their clothes and hair.  She turned from him and stepped through the door of the life pod.  He took a step forward and called out to her, beckoning her to return to him, but the hatch slammed shut, cutting his words short.  The deck rumbled as the pod was launched, and the world around him was on fire, and the fire was beautiful.

          The flames burned with orange and yellow and crimson, flowing together like water tossed by a storm, surrounding him and filling him with it's comforting warmth, and now he was flying, hurtling down the flame-filled passageway.  His vision blurred around the edges, the center of his focus sharpening to a level he'd never before experienced.  It was as if he was watching the world through a filter, blocking out the unimportant.  The flames parted, and a blanket of stars unfolded before him as he shot from the station, floating free and unprotected in space.  He saw her pod in front of him, far away and drifting farther from the dying station.  He reached out to it, and then he was beside it, close enough to touch.

          The station exploded, giving up it's ghost in a massive release of energy, temporarily creating an artificial gravity well, sucking debris and burning gasses back on itself, then loosing it's hold and scattering the mangled pieces of the station to the stars.

          He placed his hand against the soft surface of the pod as debris and gasses flew past, surrounding them in a cloud of waste.  A surge of energy washed through his body, latching onto his mind and taking hold.  His mind screamed in protest at the invasion, and he was driven to near insanity in a mere instant.

          When it passed, the pod was gone, and all was quiet.

          Shinjiro was sweating when he woke.  He sat up in bed and rested his back against the wall.   The computer noticed his movement, and the lights in the room brightened to a comfortable level.  Shinjiro massaged his temple, rubbing the sleep out of his head.  He hadn't had a truly restful sleep since he'd been rescued.  He shoved his sheets aside and dropped his feet to the floor.  The cool of the deck felt good.  He leaned forward on his knees and rested his head in his hands.  It was because of those damned dreams.

          And those eyes.

          He shook his head clear and stood, walking to the sink on the opposite wall.  He turned on the faucet and splashed some cool water on his face.  He looked in the mirror and sighed.  He couldn't get her out of his head, that angular face constantly nagging at the back of his mind, her spiked red hair blowing about wildly.  He closed his eyes and tried to think of something else:  His friends from the academy.  His parents.  His childhood on Jurai.  But everything was hazy, as if seen through smoked glass, and every memory was tinted by something.  A pointed reed of red grass, or a glint of green seen from the corner of his mind's eye, and all eventually returned to her.  Washu Hakubi.  Professor at the Science Academy.  Missing for centuries.  What were you doing at headquarters?

          _Why were you there?_

          He wiped his face dry and stripped off his night clothes, changing into the fresh sweats Amos had set aside for him.  He looked at the chronometer on his nightstand.  It was almost six in the morning.  He'd only gotten a little more then four hours sleep.  No where near enough.

          _Why were you there when headquarters was destroyed?_

          He looked in the mirror again, gazing at his own eyes, and seeing hers instead.  He stared at the mirror for several minutes, lost in thought.  The silent hum of the ship's engines vibrated through the deck, pulling him deeper into his eyes.  Her eyes.

          _Why were you there when Kain escaped?_

          He blinked and looked away from the mirror, slightly alarmed and not quite certain what had just happened.  He glanced at the clock again, and realized that he'd been standing there, lost in the mirror, for almost twenty minutes, though it had felt like only three or four.  He rubbed his temple again, and stepped toward the door and waited for it to open.

          _Kain._

          The door slid open and he stepped out into the passageway and headed for the galley.  He wasn't really hungry, but wasn't ready to see Rodger or Adrian yet.  He still felt disoriented from his dreams, and didn't feel like his head was screwed on quite right at the moment.

          _Washu._

          He entered the galley and helped himself to an orange and some coffee.  What he really craved was some green tea, but hadn't found any earlier, and after asking Amos, had learned that Rodger had traded the last of their tea two weeks ago for a case of sake'.  That sounded good, too, but it was a little early in the morning yet to start drinking without looking like a wino.  He fell into a seat and started peeling the orange.

          _Kain._

          He tossed a slice of the fruit in his mouth and chewed slowly, savoring the sweet juices that spilled from it each time he bit down.  A little something tugged at the back of his mind, just out of reach.  He took a swig of coffee, the bitterness of the drink clashing with the sweet acidity of the fruit, jolting the last of the sleep from his body.  He separated another slice of orange from the whole and turned it over a few times, studying the biological structure of the fruit, before placing it in his mouth and biting down on it, releasing the juices trapped inside.

          _Washu._

          That little something that nagged at the back of his mind suddenly jumped forward, as if released from the prison of his subconscious.  He slowly picked up his coffee mug, lifting it to his lips.  The thought formed itself clearly in his mind, and he contemplated the validity of the accusation it presented.  It was a possibility.  The facts were a little sketchy (he wasn't even certain they _were_ facts), but it was worth looking into.  He finished off the coffee, and set the mug down next to the unfinished half of the orange, stood, and walked from the galley.  A panel on the wall slid open, and a maintenance 'bot emerged and cleared the table as the doors slid shut behind Shinjiro.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

          Washu collapsed backwards on her cushion and sighed.  Medical information and brain wave patterns played across the computers surrounding her, but none of it told her anything.  She half-heartedly waved a hand in the air as she stared at the ceiling, and the data stream started again from the beginning.  Most of the information she knew by heart, and glanced at the screens only occasionally, replaying the data in her mind.  She'd been working on the problem for the better part of a day and a half now, and was no closer to a solution then when she'd began.  Most of the data looked fairly straight-forward.  Her heart rate had been slightly elevated, as would be expected, but everything else was normal.  Except for her brain waves.  Moments before she had awakened, there had been a major increase in brain activity, indicating that she was having a dream.  Nothing odd there, except for the two spikes in the wave pattern read-out, and those were what was giving her the headache she felt coming on.  She drummed her fingers on her knee as she thought, working the problem from multiple angles.  She sat up again and leaned forward, studying the monitor floating in front of her.

          "Wait a minute," she mumbled, a thought forming in her head as the data streamed across her screens.  She put away all the computers except for one.  "Let's give this a shot, shall we?" she said, entering a string of commands into her machine.  A large screen popped up to the right of her computer, and a dark, grainy, image appeared on it's surface.

          "Well," she said, looking the image over, "you're a fuzzy one, aren't you?  Let's see what we can do about that."  She started typing away at her keyboard again, trying to smooth out the wave patterns, focusing them for a sharper image.  After a moment, the picture started to pull into focus, the lines sharpening and the colors deepening.

          "Interesting."  She was looking at Sasami (as she figured she would be), but nothing else.  She superimposed some of the medical data in the corner of the screen, and sat back and watched as the dream started.

          Sasami was alone in a field of black, looking around, obviously trying to figure out where she was.  Washu glanced at Sasami's vital signs, as they had been recorded earlier, and now time-matched to coincide with the playback of her dream.  So far so good.

          Sasami looked forward suddenly as someone appeared in front of her.  It was another Sasami, dressed in the robes of the Juraian court.  Washu noted a slight increase in Sasami's heart rate as she noticed that her clothes had changed to match her doubles, and then again as Sasami realized she had suddenly grown older.

          Washu leaned closer to the screen as Sasami looked up to see her reflection had grown as well.  Washu's mind suddenly exploded with revelations as she realized what she was seeing.  Everything was moving too fast.  The dream Sasami smiled.

          "Welcome, sister," she said.  Washu looked quickly at Sasami's vital data.  Spike one.

          The dream blurred, then re-focused, and Sasami was herself again, but her reflection was still full grown.  Washu leaned forward some more, and almost fell off her cushion.  No wonder the kid had been so shaken when she'd wakened.  Her brain waves were going nuts.  At least she was beginning to understand what it all meant.  Too bad it had taken her so long, though.  She watched as the older Sasami took the little girl into her arms in a hug, and her vital signs started to settle down a little.

          Washu knew what was coming.  Sort of.

          Sasami pulled away from her reflection, and Washu was mildly surprised to see that it was an image of herself that was now standing where Sasami's double had been.  It was her older self, though.  The body she had forsaken for the simpler vices that a child's form offered.  Washu was unaware that Sasami had ever seen her like that.  She glanced at the statistics.

          Spike two.

          "Wow!  Is that you, Washu?"

          Washu yelped in surprise and slipped off her cushion, falling through the screen.  The image broke up, and the program shut itself off.  Mihoshi clasped her hands over her mouth and ran over to where Washu was lying on the floor.

          "Oh, I'm so sorry, Washu!" she cried, kneeling next to the prostrate genius.  "Did I startle you?"

          Washu's eyebrow twitched as she stared at the ceiling, not looking at Mihoshi.  "Don't..." she started, pausing to pop her neck, "...don't you ever knock?"

          "But I did knock," Mihoshi said, "and there was no answer.  But the door was open, and Tenchi's father wanted me to fetch you for dinner.  So, I thought I'd just come in and let you know, that's all."

          Washu's eyebrow continued to twitch.  "Why me?"

          Dinner was terrible.

          Washu stepped outside for some fresh air.  She loved the mountains of the Okayama prefecture at night, and the cool air and gentle breeze always helped to clear her mind.  (And lord knew, after that meal, her mind _really_ needed clearing.)  She took in a deep breath and smiled.

          "Now that's more like it!" she said, leaning against the wall, hands behind her head.  She looked up at the stars, admiring the way they sparkled and shone through the warm summer air.  It was very peaceful.

          "That's it!" she shouted, pushing away from the wall.  "Why didn't I see it earlier?!"

          "Quiet down out there!" Katsuhito demanded, leaning out the door and glaring at Washu.  "I can't here my program with you shouting like that, so take it somewhere else, why don't you?"

          "Lord Katsuhito!" Washu said, turning toward the old man and grinning.  "Could you do me a favor please and have Mihoshi do the dinner dishes?"

          Katsuhito stared blankly at Washu for several seconds.  "And why do you want the kitchen destroyed?"

          Washu kicked back against the wall again.  "It's too quiet around here.  I can't think without the usual ruckus."

          Katsuhito stepped outside and slid the door shut behind him.  He walked to the edge of the porch and looked out on the starlit lake, and the mountains that stood beyond.  "That's no justification for wrecking the kitchen.  Sasami would be heartbroken when she got back, and you wouldn't want that now, would you?"

          "Come on," Washu said, waving her hand at him, "I wasn't serious."  She tilted her head back and looked up at the stars again.  "They'll be there tomorrow night, you know."

          "Yes."

          Washu glanced at Katsuhito, who was still standing at the edge of the porch, hands folded behind him, unmoving.  She looked back at the stars.  "Your mother wants them to stay, you know that don't you?  She wants to teach him how to rule the galaxy."

          Katsuhito didn't say anything.

          Washu continued.  "But you knew that, of course."  She looked over at him.  "That's what you had planned all along, wasn't it?  For Tenchi to replace you as successor to the throne, right?"

          "Yes, that's right."

          Washu looked down and chuckled.  "Well, looks as if everything's working like you planned.  I've got to hand it to you, Grandfather, you're a clever one."

          "What is it you really wanted to talk about, Washu?" Katsuhito said, still gazing at the lake.  "You're having trouble with something, and it's driving you crazy, isn't it?  Is it Sasami?"

          Washu slid down the wall to sit on the deck.  "I've studied her data extensively, and can't come to any conclusions.  The answer's right in front of me, but I can't put a finger on it at all."

          "Don't worry about it too much.  Sasami's alright, and that's what matters after all."  Katsuhito yawned loudly, stretching his arms above his head, and turned to face the house.  "Why don't you come inside and have some ice cream, eh?"

          Washu stood and placed her hands over her stomach, grimacing.  "Did Sasami make it?  I don't think I can handle any more of father's cooking."

          "No, Sasami didn't make it," he said.  Washu balked.  Katsuhito smiled.  "Don't worry.  I bought a carton when I was in town earlier today."  They both looked at the house as a crash came from within, and the muffled sounds of Ryoko shouting and Mihoshi apologizing drifted through the walls.

          "Well," Washu sighed, opening the door.  "We should head in while there's still some left."

---------------------------------------------------------------

          Tenchi placed his chopsticks on top of his bowl, and lifted his glass of wine gently, tipping it back smoothly and letting the drink wash down the last of his meal.  He lowered the glass and swirled the last few drops of wine around the sides of goblet.  He smiled and finished off the drink, setting the glass down in it's proper place.  He turned to the head of the table, where Ayeka was sitting, and nodded once, a sign that he approved of the meal.  Ayeka returned the nod, then smiled.

          "That was good, but you shouldn't play with the wine like that.  People may think you don't like it, and it is considered rude."

          Tenchi looked at the empty wine glass and sighed.  "On earth, we swirl our wine to release the flavor.  You don't do that on Jurai?"  Ayeka shook her head.

          "No, we don't.  In a formal setting, if you fiddle around with your food even slightly, it is considered a sign that you would rather play with your food than eat it.  It is quite rude, especially for royalty."

          Tenchi sighed again and pushed back from the table.  "Yeah, I guess I can see that.  Boy, there sure is a lot you can't do at the palace, isn't there?"

          "I know, there sure is isn't there?" Sasami said, setting her own chopsticks down and smiling at Tenchi.  He smiled back at her and laughed.  Ayeka looked at her disapprovingly.

          "Now Sasami, don't be rude.  You certainly have picked up some bad habits while on Earth."  She stood and picked up her dishes.  "You've been hanging around Ryoko too much, I think."

          "But Tenchi's right, Ayeka.  I bet they won't even let me help in the kitchen like they used to."

          Ayeka stepped around the table to where Sasami was sitting and picked up her bowl and plate.  "I don't know, Sasami.  It's been quite a while since we were last home.  A lot's probably changed.  They may not even have the same cook anymore."  Ayeka took Sasami's cup from her and moved on to Tenchi's place.

          "Oh, I hope they still have mister Liu.  I really liked his food," Sasami said, smiling at Ayeka as she cleared the table.  She suddenly got a gleam in her eyes, and clamped her hands over her mouth to hold back a laugh.  Ayeka turned to look at her, dirty dishes in both hands.

          "What's so funny, Sasami?"

          Sasami shook her head back and forth, holding her mouth shut.  Little tears formed in the sides of her eyes.  Ayeka watched Sasami, puzzled, for a moment, then started to chuckle herself.  Tenchi looked from one princess to the next, lost.

          "What is it, Ayeka," he asked, standing up and taking the last of the dishes from the table.  Ayeka turned to Tenchi and shook her head lightly.

          "Well," she said, setting the dishes back on the table and brushing her hands down the front of her gown, "I had just scolded Sasami for picking up bad habits on Earth, and here I am, clearing the table like a common kitchen maid."  She took the dishes from Tenchi and set them back on the table.  "Let Azaka and Kamidake get them.  If we're going back to the palace, we have to start acting like it now, so we don't embarrass ourselves when we get there."

          Sasami regained her composure and wiped the tears from her eyes.  "I'm sorry, Ayeka," she said, climbing out of her seat and pushing it back under the table.  "I didn't mean to laugh at you.  I'll try to do better."

          "I think you're doing great, Sasami," Tenchi said.  "Better then I am, anyway."

          "You're both going to do fine," said Ayeka.  "We are going home, after all.  Mother Funaho will make sure we have everything we need, and we will be there for a few days before the party, so we don't have to worry about it that much yet."

          Tenchi sighed and patted his stomach.  "Well, in any case that was a great dinner Sasami.  Thank you very much."

          Sasami grinned.  "Your welcome, Tenchi."

          Ayeka looked at a small monitor on the wall.  "So, we're going to reach Jurai in another five hours," she said.  "I'm going to get some sleep now.  It will be very busy when we arrive, and we may not get another chance to rest for quite a while."

          Sasami yawned.  "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."  She trotted toward the doors and turned and waved at Tenchi and Ayeka.  "Goodnight," she giggled, and left the room.

          Ayeka chuckled.  "What a dear," she said, watching Sasami leave.  "I haven't seen her this excited in a long time."

          "She must be excited to see her parents again.  It has been a while since they visited Earth, you know."  Tenchi started toward the doors himself.  "Anyway, I'm going to bed too.  Goodnight, Ayeka."

          "Goodnight, Tenchi," she said, turning to the doors that led to her chamber.  They paused, turning to look at each other, then headed for separate doors at opposite ends of the dinning hall.

----------------------------------------------------------------

          Everyone watched with various expressions of shock as Ryoko wolfed down her ice cream faster than was normal for even her.  She dropped the spoon in her bowl with a flourish, and lay back on the floor with a contented sigh.  "My, that was some good ice cream you picked out there, old man."

          "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Ryoko," Katsuhito said, lifting his first bite to his mouth.  Mihoshi looked at Ryoko in a mix of awe and concern.

          "Wow, Ryoko, that sure was fast.  I hope you don't get a cold brain."

          Ryoko chuckled.  "I think it's called a brain freeze, Mihoshi, and don't worry, I'll be fine."

          Washu swallowed a bite of her dessert and grinned to herself.  Katsuhito and Nobuyuki, who were sitting across from her with Ryoko between them, saw this.  They glanced at each other, and scooted away from Ryoko.  She sighed again and closed her eyes.

          Washu dug her spoon into her mound of ice cream and lifted her bowl from the table.  Katsuhito and Nobuyuki did the same.  Mihoshi looked at them, confused.  She pointed at their bowls.

          "Why are you. . . ?" she started to ask.  An ear-splitting scream interrupted her as Ryoko suddenly kicked the table, sending it flying over their heads and crashing into the wall.  She sat up straight as a rod and rubbed her temples furiously.  Katsuhito looked at her, then turned back to his dessert.

          "Um-hum," he mumbled, taking a bite.  Nobuyuki looked at the new dents in his wall and moaned.  Mihoshi lifted her upturned bowl off her head and tried to shake some of the ice cream out of her hair and back into the bowl.  Washu scooped up a spoonful of dessert and wagged her loaded spoon at Ryoko.

          "Well, Ryoko, I trust you learned your lesson?"  She said, chomping down on her ice cream.  Ryoko glared at Washu through squinted eyes as she rubbed her head.

          "Damnit, Washu, what did you do that for?"

         "Now, now, my dear," Washu said, scooping the last of her dessert from her bowl, "I didn't do anything.  You just ate your ice cream too fast, that's all."  She licked her spoon clean and stood, sidestepping the overturned table.  "Well, Lord Katsuhito, that really was some good ice cream."  She looked down at Mihoshi, who was staring pitifully into her nearly empty bowl.  "Here, Mihoshi," she said, "I'll bring you some. . ."

          Ryoko suddenly screamed again, though not quite as loudly this time, and gripped her head tight.  Katsuhito looked at her and squinted.  Nobuyuki lowered his spoon.

          "Wow, Ryoko, that looks like it hurts," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.  She groaned and shook her head, trying to clear out the pain.  "You really should slow down when you eat," Nobuyuki said.

          "That's. . ." said Ryoko, rubbing her temple and squeezing her eyes tight, "that's not it."  She opened her eyes and gasped, dropping her hands to the floor and leaning forward.  "That's not it at all."

          Mihoshi set her bowl aside and scooted over toward Ryoko.  "Are you alright, Ryoko?"

          Ryoko shook her head again and sat up slowly.  She blinked a few times and looked at Mihoshi.  The detective looked quite worried.  Ryoko grinned meekly.  "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, patting Mihoshi's shoulder.  "I just ate too quick.  Watch out for those cold brains, they'll knock you for a loop, that's for sure."

          "Well, I think that's enough ice cream for tonight," Katsuhito said, picking up his bowl and Ryoko's.  "Washu, would you mind giving me a hand with the dishes?"  He looked over at where Washu was standing, facing the kitchen.  She didn't move, but just stood there, arms at her side, her bowl dripping on the floor.

          "Washu."

          She started, and turned to the group.  "I'm sorry," she said, looking down at her bowl.  She handed it to Mihoshi.  "Could you take this to the kitchen for me please?  I have to get to my lab."  She let go of her bowl before Mihoshi could get a hold of it, and started toward her door.

          "Washu!" Katsuhito said, "What's going on here?"

          She paused, but didn't turn around.  "I. . ."  She shook her head and opened her door.  "I just have to check on something, that's all."  She closed the door behind her, leaving a group of confused looking faces standing around in the dinning room.

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          Shinjiro entered his room and locked the door behind him.  He paused for a moment, not quite sure why he'd done that, and then pulled a chair over to the desk and sat down in front of the computer terminal.  He stared at the blank screen for a moment, gathering his thoughts together, then started typing.

          "Sorry, Amos," he mumbled, "But you're going to have to stay out of my way for a bit."  He entered a string of commands, bypassing the ship's central computer and setting up a series of firewalls that prevented Amos from monitoring his terminal.  He then checked to make sure Amos hadn't noticed what he'd done.  Satisfied, he pulled up the ship's communications control panel.  "Hope we're close enough," he said.  He entered his destination and password.

          The computer sent his data out across the great void that was space, and he kicked back in his seat as he waited for the reply.  He wasn't quite certain exactly where they where, but he knew it was far enough out that any transmission would take some time.  A few moments later, his console beeped, indicating that his transmission had been sent and received.  The screen changed from Amos's communications panel to the standard start-up screen of the G.P. network.  Shinjiro brought up the search screen.

          "All right honey, let's see what we've got on you, eh?"  He typed in "Washu Hakubi", then leaned back and waited.  Not only would the transmission take some time, but the G.P.'s database surpassed enormous, and could take up to several minutes to search for information.  He only hoped that the network hadn't been too crippled by the loss of headquarters.  Most of the computers that supported the network were located on Jurai and at the Science Academy, but the main interface units had been at headquarters.  _Well,_ he thought, watching the transmission indicator light blinking on the screen.  _If I've been out of it for months, someone should have fixed things up a bit by now_.  His computer beeped, surprising him slightly.

          "That was quick," he mumbled, leaning forward.  The computer had found two entries, so he opened the first file.

          "Ah," he groaned as the text printed out across the screen, detailing her kidnapping from the Science Academy.  "Seen this one already."  He closed the file and selected the second folder.  It took several seconds to load, and when it did, Shinjiro couldn't help but notice that it was huge.  He smiled.  "Been a little busy, have we, Washu?"  He opened the file, and his screen suddenly turned red, demanding a pass code of level 12 or higher.  "Damn, girl.  Been real busy."  He entered his code, and waited while the computer tried to decide if he was who he said was.  It didn't take as long as he'd thought it would.

         The file _was_ huge.  He scrolled through it quickly, and found that it was over a thousand pages in length.  "Wow," he breathed, scrolling back to the top to read the opening information.  The report had been filed by detective first class Mihoshi Kuramitsu, currently stationed in the Solar system, and covered the events surrounding the demise of the space pirate Kagato.  He had heard that Kagato had been destroyed, but had never learned the specifics.  The report appeared to be very detailed.

          "Damn," Shinjiro muttered, skimming over the first couple of paragraphs.  "This thing's gonna put me to sleep.  Don't have time to read the whole thing."  He pulled up the help file and selected the condensed version.  The file was reduced to one-hundred pages, with a footnote from information services apologizing for the length and detail of the original draft.  "That's better."  He pulled a hand-held pad from a drawer and transferred the report to it.  He set the pad aside and severed his computer's link with the G.P. network, returning the system to normal.  He cross-checked his firewalls, making sure Amos hadn't noticed anything odd.  He wondered briefly again why he'd taken such steps.  He hadn't really done anything requiring the security steps he'd taken.  He shrugged it off to his police training, propped himself up in bed, and started reading.

          Even the condensed version was detailed, but police reports had never been accused of being light reading.  He skimmed over the parts concerning how detective Mihoshi had come to be on the planet called Earth.  He was surprised, however, to learn that the space pirate Ryoko was also on that planet, and wondered briefly why Mihoshi had not attempted to apprehend the criminal, until he read that her statute of limitations was up.  _Oh well,_ he thought, _small fry, anyway._  The Juraian in him was surprised at how easily he blew off that detail.  He read on.

          The report went on to explain how Mihoshi ended up living with an earth family called the Masaki's, whom Ryoko was also staying with.  Shinjiro snorted in disgust at Mihoshi's disregard for procedure.  Coming in contact with the natives of an underdeveloped planet, especially one that was a protected territory of Jurai, was specifically forbidden.  The Masaki's were a typical family, with the grandfather, father, and three children living in a fairly remote part of the country, which provided good cover for Ryoko and Mihoshi.  Shinjiro figured that was why Ryoko had chosen to stay with them.  She would have stood out in a city.

          The report moved on to describe Kagato's arrival, and his kidnapping of Ryoko.  It appeared that Kagato had been controlling her in the past, using her to do his dirty work.  It disgusted Shinjiro that someone would use another person, especially a woman, in such a manner.  The next ten pages or so detailed Mihoshi's pursuit of Kagato; how she was forced to use Ryoko's spaceship, Ryo-oh-ki, because her own Yukinojo had been trapped in subspace during her crash-landing on Earth; the amazing power of the _Soja_; Ryoko's escape from Kagato and how the two of them boarded the ship, and later got separated.

          "Ah-ha," he said, finally coming to the part he was actually interested in.  Two pages were dedicated to Mihoshi's release of the prisoner Washu Hakubi, the 'schoolgirl' Kagato had kidnapped from the Science Academy.  "So they did find you, then."  He smiled.  "At least I'm not crazy."  _Not totally, at least._  The report included some useless details on the construction of the _Soja_ and it's two levels of reality.  It also went into depth on Ryoko's defeat of Kagato, and made numerous mentions of Washu's scientific prowess, including the revelation that she had 'created' Ryoko from her own ovaries.  The report concluded with a brief (twenty pages) summery, going into Kagato's obsession with discovering 'the ultimate power in the galaxy', and his desire to control that power to dominate the universe.  The final page of  the report was a copy of the orders assigning Mihoshi to a permanent position in the Solar system.

          Shinjiro dropped the pad in his lap and ran over the report in his head.  Assigning a first-class detective to a remote, protected outpost seemed rather odd, especially after she had brought to justice one of the most dangerous and notorious criminals the galaxy had ever seen.  They should have rewarded her with a promotion and an assignment on some cushy resort planet or something like that.  Certain parts of the report had seemed rather odd in their own right, as well, as if they had been spruced up or downplayed a little.  He shrugged that off to the condensation procedure.  If the short version had gone into such detail, he couldn't imagine how the full version must have been.   In any case, he had found out what he'd set out to learn; that Washu was still alive, and she was living on Earth on an island called Japan.  And, as it turned out, she was living with the criminal Ryoko.

          He smiled.  Maybe his theory had some ground to stand on after all.  She certainly had the skill and the means to pull it off.  He had to force himself to keep from getting too excited.  It was just a theory, after all.

          He stood and set the pad on his nightstand, checking the chronometer while he was at it.  It had taken him three hours to read detective Mihoshi's report.  "Damn," he muttered again.  If he was going to follow up on this theory of his, he would eventually have to contact  her.  He couldn't imagine what it would be like to talk to this woman.  Even in her own report, she had come across as rather inept, an agent of chance, it would seem.  _Oh well, it takes all sorts, I guess._

          He stretched and went back over to the computer.  He pulled up Amos's communications panel again, this time without setting up any security precautions.  He typed in his destination, and waited for the reply.  A moment later, a banking screen popped up, and Shinjiro typed in the code to check his account.  He would need access to a fairly large sum of money to take his plan to the next stage, especially since the path led to the Solar system.  After a few seconds, his account data appeared, and he wasn't that thrilled with what he saw.  He closed the system down and sighed.  He ran through a few of his options, and decided that he would have to contact a few 'old acquaintances' before this was through.  He would also have to bribe Rodger and Adrian into going along with him, since he didn't have access to any ship other than the _Amos_.  He didn't figure that would be too hard, seeing as the two were up against a wall of hard luck anyway.

          Getting the money, however, would be the hard part.  He'd have to hack into some of the G.P. accounts to get the amounts he would need.  Again, not too much of a problem there, with the G.P. in the mess it was most likely in right now, there would probably be little monitoring of the financial lines.  He could set up a couple of ghost accounts and transfer small amounts into those, and no one would even notice.  Hopefully.

          Getting to earth wouldn't be that difficult, he decided.  He knew what strings to pull and when.  He'd been doing it for years, and had all the right contacts in all the right places.  No, the hard part would be getting past Ryoko.  The pirate had her reputation for a reason.  She had managed to sack Jurai, and had eventually brought Kagato to his doom.  Yes, she would be a tough one, alright, but nothing he couldn't handle.

          And that meant the only wild card left was the clever little genius herself, Washu.

          "How much?" Adrian asked again, almost falling out of his chair.

          "One and a half million Jurai a piece," Shinjiro said, crossing his legs.  "Plus expenses, of course."

          Adrian grunted, sitting back in his chair.  That would certainly make up for the losses they'd incurred so far on this trip.  Would more then make up for the losses.  Rodger shook his head and sighed.

          "You've really got the hots for her, don't you?" he said, standing and turning to look at the main screen, watching the stars fly by in long, white streaks.  "Can't say I blame you, though.  She's a looker, that's for sure."

          "You know," Shinjiro said, "that's not really. . ."

          "You're not actually considering his proposal, are you, gentlemen?" Amos asked, sliding between the surveyors and Shinjiro.  Adrian leaned forward and shoved him out of the way.

          "I aint no gentleman, and yes I am."  He looked up at Shinjiro.  "So where did you say this Earth place is again?"

          "It's one of the protected territories of Jurai, third planet of the Solar system.  Amos will have it's coordinates."

          "And Amos will not give them up," the computer said, sliding back between the two men.  "I belong to the company, and am not to be sublet, as per article 25.7, line three, of. . ."

          "Shut up already," said Rodger, stepping over and delivering a sharp knock to the top of Amos's dome.  "Show a little backbone, will you?"

          "I beg pardon, sir, but according to company policy. . ."

          "We're overriding company policy," Adrian said, "and if you don't like it, fine.  We've ways around that."

          "Am I to take that as a threat?" Amos asked, actually shrinking back a little.

          Adrian nodded.  "Yeah, that's a threat."

          The corner of Shinjiro's mouth curled up slightly, and he nodded his head.  "So, I take it you're with me on this."

          Adrian shook his head.  "No, I'm with you on the money.  I couldn't give a rat's ass about your woman or this Kain guy, but the money sounds good, so sure, count me in."

          Shinjiro looked at Rodger, who nodded.  Amos groaned.

          "For Pete's sake, you guy's!  Never before have I had a crew that so blatantly disregarded company policy!  I'm afraid it is my duty to report this mutiny to headquarters."

          "'Fraid not," Shinjiro said.  Amos twisted around to look at the officer.  He smiled.  "I bypassed your communications array before I came up here.  I'd figured you wouldn't approve.  Sorry."

          Amos was flabbergasted.  He ran a systems check, and was unable to find his communications system.  None of the men had ever heard a computer curse before.  "I never would have thought that you, mister Yakagamo, a Galaxy Police Officer of all people, would resort to this sort of action.  It's just so. . . so low."

          "Now Amos," Shinjiro said, "don't take it so personal.  I've got a criminal to catch, and you're the only ship around.  Just doing what I have to, that's all.  Besides," he added with a smile, "It'll be fun."

          Adrian grabbed Amos and twisted his dome around so he was looking him in the eyes.  "We're not going to have to find a way around you, now are we?"  If a computer could sweat, Amos would have been soaked.

          "No, sir."

          Adrian let Amos go.  "Good.  Now find this Earth place and lay in a course."

          "Yes sir."

          Adrian stood and looked hard at Shinjiro.  "You'd better have the money."

          Shinjiro stood as well.  He barely rose to the height of Adrian's shoulders.  "I'll have it in your account by tonight.  Just need the numbers."

          Adrian sneered.  "Right.  Find me when your ready."

          "Sure."

          Rodger placed his hand on Adrian's shoulder, pulling him away from Shinjiro.  "Look," he said, facing the policeman, who was still staring at Adrian.  "You mentioned something about a space pirate, right?"

          "Yeah, Ryoko.  Nasty one, she is.  Used to work for Kagato, before she turned on him."

          Rodger shook his head.  "Sorry, I'm not up on current events.  Who's Kagato?"

          Shinjiro looked away from Adrian, who grunted and shrugged off Rodger's hand.  "He used to be the most wanted criminal in the galaxy."

          "Even more then this other guy, Kain?"

          "Kain was still locked up in subspace at the time."

          Rodger nodded.  "So, do you think she'll make any trouble for us, 'cause I don't think Amos could handle it if she decides to get rough.  He's a survey ship, not a battle cruiser."

          Shinjiro smiled.  "Leave that to me."  Amos groaned.

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         "Wow," Tenchi said as Ryu-oh broke through the clouds.  An ocean of green opened up before his eyes, stretching from horizon to horizon.  A massive, unbroken forest of trees, a few standing high above the rest, nearly touching the clouds.  From the base of each cloud, a few tendrils of mist grew toward the forest, reaching out to the planet like great stalactites of pure white.  It was like nothing Tenchi had ever seen.

          "It's amazing," he said as their ship drifted closer to one of the great trees, one that stood much taller than the others.

          "It is quite the stunning view, isn't it?" Ayeka said, stepping forward to look out the window as well.

          "Yes, it is."  Ryu-oh came level with the uppermost branches of the great tree, and started to descend.  Soon, they were surrounded by green, dropping slowly through the branches of the great giant.  "How do the trees grow so large here?"

         "It's because of the royal trees," Ayeka said.  "There are only a few giants, and this is the largest of them.  This is Tenjyu, the Great Palace of Jurai, and it is here that the royal trees are grown and kept."

          "This tree is the palace?" Tenchi said, amazed.

          Sasami grinned.  "Yeah, pretty neat, huh?"  The ship continued to drop for what seemed an hour while they watched the leaves and branches of the palace pass by.  Every now and then they would catch a glimpse of a window or balcony cut into the side of the tree, and Ayeka or Sasami would point it out to Tenchi, telling him about the room or part of the palace that lay within.  There were people standing on some of the balconies, waving at them as they passed by.  Eventually, Azaka floated down off of his platform and drifted over to them.

          "We are about to land, princess Ayeka," he said.  "The king and your mothers are waiting at the platform."

          Ayeka sighed.  "Well, I guess it's time, then."

          "Aren't you happy to see your parents again?" Tenchi asked.

          "Of course I am," she said, smoothing down her robes.  "It's just, well, you've met them before."

          Tenchi laughed and ran his hand through his hair.  "Yeah, they can be pretty crazy, can't they?"

          "Oh, you guys are so mean," Sasami said.  Outside, Ryu-oh emerged from the branches into a large, open area, where a large crowd had gathered around the edges of an impressive courtyard that jutted from the palace, supported by the massive branches of the tree.  It was the largest, most elaborate balcony Tenchi had ever seen. 

          "Well, let's get this over with," Ayeka said, heading over to the doors that led off the bridge.

          A moment later they were standing in front of the main door, waiting for it to open.  Sasami looked up at Tenchi and grinned.  Tenchi smiled back at her, then looked over at Ayeka, who sighed and fiddled with her robes.  The ship shuddered gently as it set down.

          Ayeka stood up straight and folded her hands in front of her.  Sasami could barely keep herself from hopping around with joy.  Tenchi just stood there, looking slightly worried and very out of place.  The doors opened with a hiss.

          A piercing screech shot through their heads as a dark green blur rushed up the ramp and into the ship, throwing itself around Tenchi and doing it's best to squeeze the life out of him.

          "OH AYEKA-CHAN, AYEKA-CHAN, AYEKA-CHAN!!!" Misaki cried, hugging Tenchi so tight he couldn't breath.

          "Help," he hissed, his eyes starting to roll up in his head.  Ayeka and Sasami looked at each other and sighed.

          "Ahem," Ayeka said, clearing her throat.  Misaki quit crying and blinked.  She looked over at Ayeka, who was still standing very straight and proper.  She pushed Tenchi back to arm's length and looked him over.  She looked back at Ayeka, then to Sasami, who grinned and waved.  She looked back at Tenchi.

          "Hi," he said, smiling weakly.  Misaki looked at him for a moment, confused, then broke into a huge smile and grabbed him in another bear hug.

          "TENCHI-KUN, TENCHI-KUN, TENCHI-KUN!!!" she wept, gripping him tight.

          "Not again," he moaned.

          "Hello, girls," said Funaho, stepping into the ship.

          "Lady Funaho, it is good to see you again."  Ayeka said, bowing.

          Funaho smiled.  "It's good to see you too, Ayeka.  I'm glad you came."  She looked over to where Misaki was smothering Tenchi.  "Good, you brought Tenchi, as well."

          "Mother Funaho!" cried Sasami, running forward and hugging Funaho around the waist.  Misaki turned at the sound of Sasami's voice, and released Tenchi from her death grip.  Tenchi collapsed, gasping.

          "Sasami-chan!" she cried, dropping to her knee and holding her arms out.  Sasami giggled, and let go of Funaho.

          "Mommy!"  she leaped into Misaki's arms, and the two hugged each other tight, laughing.  Ayeka stood still, watching, her eyebrow starting to twitch slightly.  Funaho chuckled, and Ayeka looked at her.  Funaho just smiled.

          "Ahem!"

          Ayeka looked back at Misaki and Sasami.  Misaki still held Sasami tight, but was glaring at Ayeka over the young princess's shoulder.  Ayeka's eyebrow started twitching severely.  Tenchi was still sitting on the floor, rubbing his head.  Funaho smiled.

          "Oh, brother," Ayeka mumbled under her breath.  She sighed, and then broke into a huge grin, clasping her hands in front of her.  "Mommy!"

          "Ayeka-chan!" she cried, holding Sasami in one arm and opening her other for Ayeka.  Ayeka whimpered a little, fighting to keep her smile, and then fell into Misaki's arms.

          Misaki was beside herself with joy.  "Ayeka-chan!  Sasami-chan!" she said, hugging them both as tight as she could.  "My little girl's have come home!"

          Funaho giggled, and turned to watch as Tenchi stood, rubbing his ribs where Misaki had squeezed.  "I'm glad to see you've taken such good care of these two, Tenchi," she said.  "I thank you for that."

          "Oh, it was nothing, really," Tenchi said, bowing at Funaho.  "I actually don't have to do that much.  Ayeka's stronger than she looks."  He looked over at Ayeka, who was on the verge of tears, trapped in her mother's arms.

          "Nevertheless, I'm glad that you have come."

          "Well, I've heard so much about Jurai, I'm just glad to finally get to see it for myself."

          A dark shadow suddenly filled Ryu-oh's doorway, and a deep, commanding voice demanded to know:  "What is _that_ one doing here?"

          Funaho turned from Tenchi and faced the door.  She smiled.  "Oh, good!  You're here!"

          Misaki released the princesses and beamed.  Ayeka turned from her mother and, gasping for air, brushed down her robes and smoothed her hair.  Sasami smiled and ran up to the door.  "Hello father!" she said, bowing curtly.  Azusa looked down at the girl and smiled.

          "Sasami, how have you been?"

          "Very good, thank you."  She grinned.

          He looked up at Ayeka, who had regained her composure by this time.  "Ayeka."

          She bowed at him.  "Father, it is very good to see you again.  Congratulations on account of your anniversary."

          "Hhmm," he nodded, and shifted his gaze to Tenchi, who straightened up and bowed.

          "Your majesty."

          Azusa frowned, and turned away from Tenchi.  "Misaki, what is _he_ doing here?"

          Ayeka's mother grinned.  "Surprised?"

          Funaho stepped forward.  "Come, dear," she said, placing a hand on the king's shoulder.  "It's only fitting that Yosho be represented at your party.  And it's a good time to introduce him to the court."

          Azusa turned around and headed for the door.  "I have no use for Yosho.  Do with him as you like, but I will not take part."  He stepped from the ship and headed back for the palace.  Funaho turned back to Tenchi and company.

          "Well," she said, clapping her hands together and grinning.  "That went better then I expected.  Shall we get you settled now?"

          Tenchi just blinked, more confused then usual.

----------------------------------------------------------------

          It was a truly beautiful site.  Adrian stood there, transfixed, basking in the glory of it all.  The light reflected off the silver skin of the barrels, shinning in his wide, unblinking eyes.  The power of what lay before him moved him to tears.

          "You're drooling," Rodger said, stepping forward and handing their payment card to the merchant.  The merchant bowed and scanned the card.

          "This much beer," he said, handing the card back to Rodger.  "I no can move.  You handle transport."

          "Not a problem," Rodger said.  He turned back to Adrian, who was still staring at the stack of kegs.  Rodger shook his head and sighed.  "You got this handled, Adrian?"  Adrian walked over to the nearest keg and wrapped his arms around it.  His grin was enormous.

          "Get a room, you two," Rodger said, turning away from his friend and looking around the mall.  The street was packed with creatures of all sorts, only a few of which were humanoid, and fewer still who looked to have anything resembling a respectable nature.  It was a rather seedy market, dug into the caves of a mined out asteroid.  It had started as a meeting place for smugglers, and had eventually grown into the worst-kept secret in the criminal underworld.  There wasn't a detective in the G.P. who didn't know of its existence.  Low-life's of every sort, from smugglers to murderers to small-timers, roamed the streets and alleys of the mall.  Such a diverse gathering of scum made the tunnels a prime destination for those seeking hard-to-get items and information.  Shinjiro had asked them to stop off here on their way to Earth.

          Rodger reached in his jacket and felt for his gun, making sure the safety was off.  Having grown up on the fringe, he was very aware that the unarmed never lasted long in places like this.  He glanced back at Adrian, who had managed to pry himself off of his precious beer keg and was calling Amos for a flatbed.  "Yo, Adrian," he called.  "I'm going to look for Shinjiro.  Call me if you need anything."  Adrian didn't look up, but just waved Rodger off.  Rodger turned and stepped into the crowd.  

          He immediately realized it would be a major stroke of luck if he was to actually find Shinjiro in this jumbled crowd.  He worked his way down the street, fighting the crowd the entire way, trying to avoid getting swept up in the confusing tangle of bodies, looking for anything that resembled a human.  He fought to keep near to the side of the street, so that he could look into the shops as he passed by.  Some were nothing more than crude tables with a shabby merchant trying to hack stolen watches and other such petty nonsense, and others were elaborate establishments hewn into the side of the tunnel, and it was near impossible to see what lay beyond the door.  Rodger got the feeling that in most cases he probably didn't want to know.

          He had walked maybe a couple of hundred yards and had yet to see any sign of Shinjiro.  Up ahead, he caught glimpse of a flat ledge butted up against the wall of the tunnel, raised about a meter off the street.  A card hustler was sitting cross-legged on the ledge, calling out to the crowd to find the ace, sliding his cards about faster than the eye could see (aided by an extra set of arms).  Rodger pushed his way over to the ledge, jumped up next to the quad-armed swindler, and looked out over the crowd.

          "Yo, crazy man," the swindler shouted at Rodger, glaring up at him over the rims of his dark glasses.  "This be my spot to dippity-do, cat."  He grabbed hold of Rodger's pants with his left arms and started to shove him off the ledge.  "You scat now and find other pad to snatch."

          Rodger kicked his leg about, trying to shake the beatnik's hands loose.  The swindler held tight, and latched onto Rodger's other leg with his free hands, forcing him closer to the edge.  The swarming crowd in the street hardly took notice of the two grappling only a couple feet away.  Rodger tried to slap the swindler's arms away, but was getting nowhere.

          "Hell with it," he muttered, and pulled his blaster out from under his jacket and rammed it under the swindler's chin.  The beatnik squealed and let go of Rodger, backing up against the wall and raising his hands.

          "Yo man!" he squeaked.  "Cool 'dem jets, just chill chill chill."

          Rodger glared down at him, pushing the barrel of his pistol harder up under his chin.  "A little grab happy for a card shark, aren't you?"

          The swindler laughed, the sound coming out higher-pitched than was natural.  "Easy with the smoker, crazy man.  'Jes tryin' to save the real estate, 'as all.  Meant no harm."

          Rodger dropped his gun and tucked it away under his jacket.  "So you won't mind if I rent this spot for a minute, then."  He turned and started scanning the crowd of bobbing heads again.

          "Rent, the crazy cat says," the beatnik sneered, sliding back to his cards.  He glared up at Rodger and shook a finger at him.  "What you pay me for rent then, mister smoker?"

          Rodger patted the gun under his jacket as he watched the crowd flow by.  Still no sign of Shinjiro.  "I let you keep your head."

          The beatnik laughed again.  "That aint gonna cut the cheddar, cat.  'Dis pad be high class real estate."

          "I think it's enough, 'cat'."

          "Not quite," he said, lunging at Rodger, a knife suddenly in his hand.  Rodger caught sight of the beatnik in time to side-step the attack, grabbing the swindler's wrist.  He stepped behind the beatnik, pushing him forward so that his own momentum carried him to the ground.  Hard.  Rodger had his blaster buried in the base of the beatnik's skull in an instant.

          "Impressive," Shinjiro said, emerging from the crowd and resting his elbows on the ledge.  "Didn't think you had it in you, to tell the truth."

          Rodger slammed the beatnik's wrist against the side of the ledge.  He squealed and dropped the knife.  Rodger dug his knee into the beatnik's back and holstered his gun.  "A guy tends to learn how to watch out for himself, growing up on the fringe."

          Shinjiro nodded and looked from the beatnik to Rodger and back to the beatnik again.  He came to a decision and gave the beatnik a sharp blow to the head.  The beatnik squeaked, and went limp.  He looked back at Rodger.  "You weren't out looking for me, were you?"

          Rodger hopped down off the ledge, leaving the beatnik laying half over the ledge, unconscious.  "Actually, I was.  Get what you needed?"

          "Yes, and now it's time to go.  It should all be loaded on the _Amos_ by now."  He looked back at the crowd passing by only inches away.  "We should hurry."  He started back down the tunnel, heading for the hangar where the _Amos_ was docked.

          Rodger started after him, fighting against the crowd to try to catch up with Shinjiro.  "Hey, what do you mean, 'we should hurry?'" he called after him.  "You didn't steal that crap, did you?"

          "No, I didn't steal it," Shinjiro said, glancing over his shoulder, "but that doesn't mean I didn't manage to piss a few people off in the process."

          "You've got to be kidding," Rodger muttered, shouldering his way through the crowd, and managing to catch up with Shinjiro.  "You know, we don't need this kind of trouble, man.  What did you do, anyway?"

          Shinjiro scanned the crowd, his eyes jumping from person to person faster than Rodger would have thought possible.  "I showed up.  Draw your gun, but keep it low and out of sight."

          Rodger did as he was told.  He didn't like where this was heading.  "I've never been in a gunfight, you know."

          "Well then, we should try and avoid one today, shouldn't we?"

          "Sounds good to me."

          The crowd started to thin slightly as they neared the hangars.  They passed the kiosk where Adrian had bought their beer, and the old merchant called out to Rodger as they walked on by.

          "Hello!  Your friend like his beer very much, yes?"

          Rodger nodded at him.  "Yes, he likes his beer very much."

          "Ha!" the old man laughed, turning back to his kegs.  "You be careful he not drink it all in one place.  Very bad if he do."

          "Yeah, I'll be sure to warn him."  He shook his head and turned back to Shinjiro.  The hangars were only a few dozen feet further down the tunnel, and Rodger could just make out the brown hull of the _Amos_ through a door up ahead.  

          "Shit!" Shinjiro shouted, and threw himself into Rodger.  The two of them crashed to the  street, sending up a cloud of dust as an intense, searing heat passed inches over Rodger's back.  A blinding flash erupted only a few feet away, and the side of his face was bombarded by dozens of tiny pebbles, each feeling like a red-hot needle pressed into his skin.  Before he could cry out at the pain, Shinjiro had grabbed the back of his jacket and dragged him to his feet again, pushing him down the tunnel toward the door.

          "Keep low!" Shinjiro shouted at Rodger.  The crowded street was now in chaos as the masses tried to figure out who was shooting at who.  Weapons of a hundred varieties could be seen in the hands of aliens of a hundred varieties.  "Head for the ship, quickly."

          "No shit!" Rodger shouted, pressing his hand against his burned cheek.  "Where the hell is he?"

          "I don't know!  Just keep low and try to hide in the crowd!"  Rodger held his blaster low in front of him as he worked through the crowded street, searching for their assailant.

          "Damnit!" he shouted at Shinjiro.  "Who is it?  They've all got guns!"  The wall nearest him suddenly exploded as a shot narrowly missed.  "Shit!"  He threw himself to the ground and started crawling toward the door, which was now only a few yards ahead.  "I don't need this crap right now," he mumbled as chunks of the wall rained down around him.  The crowd was growing more restless, and Rodger could hear a few shots getting fired, apparently at no particular target.  "What's the story, Shinjiro?"

          "Hell if I know!"

          Another shot exploded somewhere to Rodger's right, and from the barrage of curses from Shinjiro, he figured it had come closer to the cop than he would have preferred.  Rodger stood and made a dash for the hangar door.  He was a few steps away when a large shadow suddenly filled the doorway.

          "What the f---?" the shadow started to say.

          "Get down!" Rodger shouted, crashing into the man.  A shot screamed over their heads as they fell, slamming into the _Amos's_ hull.  As they hit the ground, Rodger rolled to the side, pressing himself against the wall.  "Out of the doorway, Adrian!" he said, motioning for the large man to get out of the way.

          "Goddamnit!" shouted Adrian, jumping for cover and drawing his own gun.  "What the hell's going on out there?"

          "We're getting shot at!  What's it look like?"

          Another shot blasted through the opening, with Shinjiro following close behind.  He quickly took a position on the opposite side of the door from Rodger and Adrian.

          "Where's the lock?" Rodger shouted over at him.

          "Isn't one," Shinjiro said, grabbing the communicator from his belt.  "Amos," he said, keying the mike.  Rodger blinked and shook his head.

          "What do you mean, there isn't one?  You mean we can't close the door?"

          "That's exactly what I mean.  Damnit Amos, come in!"

          Rodger cursed and looked over at the _Amos's_ loading ramp.  There were about fifty yards of open space between the doorway and Amos.  He turned back to Shinjiro.  "We'll get cut to pieces if we run for it."

          "Don't I know it!  Answer me, Amos!  Come in!"

          Adrian threw up his hands in frustration.  "Well that makes a load of sense!  A door you can't close.  What'll they think of next?"

          "This place was built by crooks, remember," Shinjiro said, slapping the communicator against his leg.  "Think they'd want people locking the hangar doors?  Damn!  Why isn't this thing working?"

          "Here, try mine," Rodger said, tossing his comm unit over to Shinjiro as yet another shot tore through the opening and slammed into the _Amos_.  Adrian looked at the blast marks on the ship's hull with growing anger.

          "Shit man," he growled.  "That prick's messing up my rig."

          "Where the hell is he, anyway?  Wish he'd show himself," Rodger said, daring a look out the door.  A shot crashed into the wall next to his head, and he ducked back inside, cursing.

          "I wouldn't try that again," Shinjiro said.  He lifted the communicator and keyed the mike.  "Amos, you there?  Come in."

          Static.

          "Damn."  Shinjiro flattened himself against the wall as a shot blew through the doorway and nearly took his head off.  "He's moved," he said, taking a knee and hugging the wall as near as he could.  He tried the comm unit again.  "Amos, you little shit, answer me."

          "Not if you talk to me like that, I won't."

          "Damnit, where've you been?"

          "I haven't gone anywhere, sir."

          "Just take off and get as near to our location as you can, and do it now."

          "But sir. . ."

          "Do it!"

          "Adrian?"

          "Amos, I swear. . ." Adrian growled, pointing his gun at the ship.

          "Well," Amos said, his jets winding up, "if you put it that way. . ."

          The wall exploded several feet down from where Rodger and Adrian were crouching, and a thick cloud of concrete dust and smoke poured from the hole, expanding outward into the hangar.  Blaster shots erupted from the cloud, aimed, of course, at the three men.  They all dropped to the floor and started firing at the cloud.

          "Getting serious, aren't they?" Rodger shouted as a series of shots tore into the wall just above his head.

          "What did you do to these guys?" Adrian asked, replacing the clip in his gun and sending a storm of bullets into the cloud.  Shinjiro paused for a second and stared at Adrian.

          "Is that a. . ?"

          "Don't ask," Rodger said.  A strong wind tore through the hangar as Amos lifted into the air and started slowly drifting toward the pinned down men.  The dust cloud cleared, and they saw a small group of hairy aliens crouched around a large, ragged hole in the wall.  The space between the two groups was suddenly filed with blaster shots now that both parties could see clearly.

          "Hurry it up, Amos!" Shinjiro shouted into the communicator.  "We're going to get ripped to shreds out here!"

          "I'm coming, I'm coming," Amos said, sliding closer to the wall and steering his loading ramp toward Rodger and company.  Shinjiro let loose with his blaster, shooting over the backs of Rodger and Adrian, and leapt for the platform, catching the edge and pulling himself up.  He crouched low and ran up the platform, shots slamming into the ceiling above him.__

          "If that bastard leaves us here. . ." Adrian growled, slamming the last of his clips home and firing away, dropping two of the bad guys as they tried to come through the hole.  Another sniper shot blasted through the doorway, and Rodger pulled his feet in closer, crawling farther from the opening.

          "Go for it," Rodger shouted, "I'll cover for you."

          "Why do I gotta go first?" Adrian shouted, preparing to leap for the platform.

          "'Cause if you get shot," Rodger said, letting loose a volley of fire, "I get to use your body as a shield."

          "I'm the captain," Adrian shouted, emptying his clip and jamming the pistol into his belt.  "It should be the other way 'round."  He jumped up and ran toward the _Amos_, grabbing the edge of the ramp and swinging himself up.  The air in the hangar suddenly crackled with energy as a powerful volley of beams tore from the _Amos's_ cargo opening and slammed into the hole in the wall.  Shinjiro was standing at the top of the ramp, holding the largest handheld weapon either of them had ever seen.

          "Move it, Rodge," he shouted, sending another wave of energy toward the hole.  Rodger didn't argue.  He leaped to his feet and ran for the ship, pulling himself up onto the ramp.

          "We've got 'em, Amos!" Shinjiro shouted, and the ship immediately started toward the exit, even while the ramp was still down.  Rodger and Adrian worked their way to the top of the ramp while Shinjiro sent one last volley toward their attackers.  The ramp closed with a reassuring 'thump', and the trio collapsed against the bulkhead, dropping their weapons to the deck.  Rodger and Adrian looked at each other, and then at Shinjiro.

          Shinjiro looked from one surveyor to the other, a cock-eyed grin working it's way onto his face.  "Well, that was fun, don't you think?"

          "What the hell was that all about?" Adrian shouted, jumping to his feet and nearly ripping Shinjiro's head off.  "You damn near got us killed back there!"

          Shinjiro held his smile.  "I'm a cop, and they're the bad guys.  That's about it, really."

          "Right," Adrian growled.  "And I've got a moon to sell you."  He pulled his pistol from his belt and holstered it properly in his shoulder sling.  "I'm heading for the bridge.  Gonna check Amos's damage.  Why don't you two try to make yourselves useful as well?"  He headed for the doors at the far end of the cargo bay, kicking loose boxes out of the way as he walked.  Rodger rested his head against the bulkhead and looked over at Shinjiro.

          "That's really it, huh?"

          "That's it."

          "Alright then."  He gestured at the large crates that now filled the _Amos's_ once nearly empty cargo hold.  "You got everything you need, right?"

          "Yep."

          "Hope it was worth the trouble."

          Shinjiro patted the massive gun he had used just moments earlier and smiled.  "It was."

          Rodger chuckled.  "Yeah, I guess so."

          "What about you guys?  You find everything you needed."

          "Yeah, we got it all.  Meat.  Pasta.  Milk and beer. . .  Oh crap."

          "What?"

          A muffled scream drifted down the passageways from the bridge.

          "We left the beer behind."


	4. Of Sages and Fools

-The Advent of Washu-

***********************003**********************

OF SAGES AND FOOLS

          "Grab a couple bags of rice, will you Mihoshi?" Ryoko said, reading from the list.  After rice came soy sauce.  She set the list back in the basket and looked up and down the aisle.  She saw lots of rice and a bunch of different types of noodles, but no soy sauce.  "Where is it?" she mumbled.  "Hey, Mihoshi, where's the soy sauce?"

          "I don't know which one," Mihoshi said.

          "What?" Ryoko asked, turning around.  Mihoshi had about five different bags of rice in her hands, juggling them about.  How she didn't drop them all was a mystery to Ryoko.

          "Do you want brown rice or white rice (bleached or unbleached, they've got both,) or Japanese rice or Aztec rice or Spanish rice or . . ., oh I don't know there's just too many different types and I can't decide which one."

          "Um," Ryoko said, looking at the list again.  "I don't know.  It doesn't say.  What's the difference?"

          Mihoshi looked from bag to bag.  "I . . . I don't know."

          "Hmm," Ryoko thought for a moment.  "We're in Japan, so take the Japanese rice."

          "Okay."  She put the rest of the bags back on the shelf and dropped a couple of sacks in Ryoko's basket.

          "Where's the soy sauce?"

          "I think it's in that aisle over there," Mihoshi said, pointing at the other end of the supermarket.  She paused and thought.  "Or maybe it was over there?" she said, pointing the other way.

          "You're completely useless, Mihoshi," Ryoko said, shoving the basket at Mihoshi. "Hold this for a minute."  She stepped over to the nearest shelf and poked her head through it, phasing into the next aisle.

          "Um, Ryoko," Mihoshi said, placing her hand over her mouth.  "I don't think you should do that. . ."

          A scream erupted from the other side of the shelves, and Ryoko pulled herself back to their side.

          "Damn," Ryoko muttered, looking up and down the aisle again, "she didn't know where it was either."

          "I don't think you should do that again," Mihoshi said, fumbling with the basket.  "I don't think Earth people are used to things like that."

          "I'm just trying to find the soy sauce."  She frowned, floating into the air so she could look over the tops of the shelves.

          "Oh," whined Mihoshi, looking up and down the aisle.  It was empty, except for them.

          "Hey!" Ryoko cried, pointing at the other end of the store, "I think I see it!"  And she disappeared.

          "Oh, Ryoko," Mihoshi whimpered, dancing about in one place uncomfortably, "you shouldn't do that here."  She looked up and down the aisle again, and then jogged toward the far end.  She looked first one way, then the other.  "Which way did she go?"

          She heard someone shout in surprise off to her left, and headed in that direction.  She had passed about five aisles when she heard a bit of commotion down one of the rows.  She turned and headed down it.  Ryoko was about halfway down the aisle, searching a shelf full of bottles of different types of sauces.  A woman was hastily gathering up the contents of her shopping basket, which lay strewn about the floor.  She kept glancing up at Ryoko nervously.

          "Aha!" Ryoko shouted triumphantly, snatching a bottle off the shelf and causing the woman to jump in surprise, dropping her basket again.  Mihoshi trotted down the aisle and started helping the woman gather her things.  Ryoko looked down at them.  "Hey, Mihoshi," she said, holding out the bottle, "I found some."

          "Oh, did you?  That's great," she said, taking the bottle of soy sauce from Ryoko and putting it in their own basket.  She looked over the shopping list that Nobuyuki had prepared for them.  "That was the last thing on the list, too."  The woman grabbed the last of her groceries, and with an odd look at the two women scampered off down the aisle and disappeared around the corner.  Ryoko watched her go and snorted.

          "Now that was rude," she said.  "She drops her stuff all over the place and then doesn't even thank you for helping her to pick it up.  Your watch is beeping."

          "What?"  The Comm unit she wore was beeping and flashing blue.  She lifted her wrist and looked at the display.  "Oh no!" she cried.  "Someone is trying to call me!"

          Ryoko shrugged.  "Just have them leave a message."

          Mihoshi shook her head furiously.  "No, no I can't.  It's a priority call.  I have to get to Yukinojo."  She looked around the store, trying to get her bearings straight.  "Um, Ryoko.  Which way was the door again?"

          "God, you're useless," Ryoko said, grabbing Mihoshi by the shoulders.  "Hold on," she sighed, and they disappeared.

          The little kid who happened to be looking down the aisle at that particular moment was never able to convince his mother that the ladies really _had_ vanished, just like in the cartoons.

          --------------------------------------------------------

          "WHAT!!!" Shinjiro shouted at the image being displayed in front of him.  "Leave a message!  I need to talk to her now!"

          "But I already told you, sir," the computer on the other end of the communications line said, "Miss Mihoshi is not here at the moment.  I can get your message to her as soon as she gets in."

          "And _I_ told you, I'll be arriving on Earth in a few hours, and I need to talk to the detective before I get there.  My god, what sort of operation are you running down there, anyway?"

          "I'm sorry, sir," said Yukinojo.  "I've contacted Mihoshi, and she should be able to get back to you within a few minutes, if you wouldn't mind waiting."

          Shinjiro shoved away from the monitor and leaned back in his chair, disgusted.  "I guess I don't have much choice, do I?"

          "With Mihoshi, sir, you take what you can get."

----------------------------------------------------------------

          "Now isn't this better than taking the bus?" Ryoko shouted over the howling wind as they flew over the countryside.  Mihoshi just kept her eyes shut tight and tried not to drop the grocery basket.  Ryoko laughed.

---------------------------------------------------------------

          Shinjiro's fingers danced across the desktop impatiently.  "I'm still waiting," he scowled.  Yukinojo bowed apologetically.

          "I know sir.  I believe she's on her way."

----------------------------------------------------------------

          "Where did I put it?" Mihoshi moaned, pulling clothes from her wardrobe, upturning her futon, clearing her shelves, and basically tearing her room to shreds.  Ryoko watched from the hallway, snickering.  Mihoshi's wrist com beeped again.

          "Oh no, oh no, oh no," she cried, shaking out her blankets and tossing them away when nothing but candy wrappers fell out of them.

          Washu came up behind Ryoko in the hallway and peeked around her into Mihoshi's room.  She glanced up at Ryoko.  "Can't find her control cube again?"

          "Nope."

          "So why don't you tell her that it's hanging from her belt?"

          "It's more fun this way."

          Mihoshi tipped her wardrobe over trying to pull it away from the wall, causing all the drawers to slide out of it before the thing went crashing to the floor.  "Oh," she whined, "It's not here either."

          Washu grinned.  "Hey, this is kinda' fun!  By the way, I monitored a ship entering the Solar system, and it was sending signals to Yukinojo."

          "You mean someone actually _wants_ to get in contact with her?"

          "Looks that way."

          "I guess you should tell her then."

          "Give her a few more minutes."  Washu stepped back and leaned against the wall opposite Mihoshi's door, watching the destruction with perverse glee.  "Did you get all the shopping done?" she asked Ryoko as Mihoshi started gutting her closet.

          "Got it all right here," Ryoko said, holding up the basket, "and I got everything on the list, too."

          "Good!" Washu grinned, then did a double take at the basket.  "Hey, doesn't that basket belong to the market?"

          "Huh?" Ryoko said, and looked down at the groceries.  "Oh, yeah, I guess it does.  I must've forgotten to give it back when we left so quickly."

          "Forgot to give it back?  Did you even pay for the food?"

          "Pay?"  Ryoko blinked a few times, then slapped her fist in her palm.  "Damn! I knew I was forgetting something!"

          "Miss Washu!" Mihoshi whined, stepping out into the hall, crying her eyes out.  "I can't find my control cube!  Can you help me please?"

          Washu looked from Ryoko, who was still regarding the basket of groceries to Mihoshi, who was standing in front of her, looking incredibly pathetic, and sighed.  "We're all doomed," she said, pointing to the puffball hanging from Mihoshi's belt.

          "What in the world took you so long, detective?"  the man in the hologram demanded.  Mihoshi straightened out her hat and stood up straight.

          "I'm really sorry, sir," she said.  "I was shopping, and I couldn't get to my ship fast enough.  This is a Jurai protected area, you know, so I can't let you do any mining here.  That is a mining ship, isn't it?"

          "Shopping?  Never mind.  I'm not here to mine, anyway.  I'm Lieutenant Shinjiro Yakagamo with the special criminals unit of the G.P.  I have reason to believe a suspect I'm tracking is hiding out on the Earth, and I need you to help me find her."

          "Special criminals unit?" Mihoshi echoed.  "That sounds dangerous."  She placed a finger to her cheek and thought for a moment.  "I don't know of any dangerous criminals on Earth, though.  Are you sure you have the right planet?"

          "Your own report said that this was the place, detective Mihoshi.  I'm looking for Washu Hakubi."

          Mihoshi was stunned.  "W-Why?  You're not going to arrest her, are you?"

          "Maybe.  I just need to talk to her.  We'll see what needs to be done after that."

          "But she hasn't done anything wrong!"

          Shinjiro leaned as close to the camera as he could, his face filling the holo-screen, and Mihoshi instinctively took a step back.  "Look, detective," he said, "I have very good reason to believe Hakubi may have somehow been responsible for releasing Kain, and destroying the G.P. headquarters.  I lost a lot of good friends that day, and damn near died myself, okay?  So, whether you help me or not, I'm going down to that planet, 'Jurai Protected area' be damned, and talking to your friend."  He pulled back from the camera, and Mihoshi was able to catch her breath.  "I've read your report, Mihoshi, and know all about how you're living with those earthlings, flaunting every rule in the book without a care for the consequences.  If it wasn't for your grandfather, I'd have you busted out of the G.P. so quick you wouldn't know what hit you, so don't mess with me, you got it?"

          Mihoshi was only able to nod.

          "I'll be in orbit in a few hours.  Be ready when I get there.  And tell Ryoko not to try anything funny."  The screen went blank.

          "What was that all about, Mihoshi?" Yukinojo asked.

          "I. . . I don't know."

---------------------------------------------------------------

          "My god, that woman's a basket case," Shinjiro said, terminating the call.

          "Don't you think you were a little, well, 'coarse' with her?" Rodger asked.

          Shinjiro snorted.  "Maybe."  He turned his seat around to face the main view screen.  A large, brownish planet with a ring filled the screen.  "How much longer 'till we reach Earth, Amos?"

          "Two-point-five hours, sir."

          "Good."  The solar filters on the view screen clicked on as the sun breached the planet's horizon, illuminating the ring.  Shinjiro kicked back in his seat and watched the planet drift by.

          "So what do we do when we get there?" Rodger asked a few minutes later.

          The _Amos_ moved into the shadow of one of the planet's moons.  Shinjiro shrugged.  "We take it one step at a time.  That's how these things always go."

          Rodger nodded.

          "Don't worry.  I'll be doing most of the work.  I just needed you guys for the ride, that's all."

          "I'm not worried about that."

          "Didn't say you were."  _Amos_ emerged from the shadow of the moon, and continued toward the small blue planet near the heart of the Solar system.

---------------------------------------------------------------

          Tenchi was lost again.  The endless hallways of the palace stretched for miles, most of them seeming to lead nowhere important.  Tenchi figured it would take someone the better part of a lifetime to learn his way around all the different corridors of the palace.

          ". . . To learn his way around this _tree_," Tenchi mumbled, shaking his head.  He stopped and looked around, trying to find something that he recognized.  There was nothing.  He sighed and started walking again.

          The hallway stretched out in front of him, curving gently to the left and looking much like the dozens of other halls he'd walked since arriving on Jurai.  It was also just as empty.  In fact, he hadn't seen another person in at least half an hour or more.  It was a little eerie.

          Up ahead, there was a large set of double doors, leading off to the right.  Tenchi paused and looked back over his shoulder.  All the other doors he had come across were on the left side of the hall, and he'd been starting to get the impression that he was going around in circles.

          "Well, why not?" he said, and grabbed the handle.  The doors swung open without any effort whatsoever.

          They opened onto a garden filled with small trees and shrubbery.  Deep green lawns outlined a series of dirt pathways, which were hard-packed and smooth.  Tenchi closed the doors behind him (after checking to make sure they weren't locked), and walked out into the garden.

          "Hey," he said to himself, walking down one of the paths that led through a small grove of cherry blossom trees (or something similar), "this place is something else."  The path emerged from the grove into a semi-clearing, lined on both sides by hedges and leading to a large, ancient tree in the center.  Beyond the tree, Tenchi could see for miles out over the Jurai countryside, and he realized that the garden must be on one of the gigantic balconies he had seen while landing.  He walked over to the stone railing, passing under the thick boughs of the old tree.  He leaned forward on his elbows, looking out across the great forest that lay below, stretching in every direction to the horizon.  A warm breeze filled the air, causing the trees below to sway back and forth, dancing in the sunlight.  He got the feeling as if he were floating in the middle of a gently rolling ocean of green.

          "It takes my breath away every time I come here," a voice to his side said.  Tenchi turned, slightly startled.  Lady Funaho was standing beside him, hands folded in front of her, looking out at the landscape.  He hadn't even heard her come up.

          "Oh, Lady Funaho, you startled me," he said, "I didn't know you were here."

          "It is quite easy to get lost in the beauty of this place, isn't it?  I like to come here when I need some peace."  She sat down on one of the benches that lined the railing, looking up at Tenchi and smiling.

          "It's something, that's for sure.  We don't have anything like it on Earth."

          "But Earth has it's own beauty, some things that Jurai does not have."

          "Yeah, but on Jurai everything's so grand.  You don't take anything for granted like we do back home."

         Funaho smiled.  "From the Tenjyu it is easy to think that.  Jurai and Earth are not all that different, really.  We both make mistakes."

          A flock of birds flew into the sky from the forest below, and Tenchi watched as they moved in unison, darting this way and that before settling on a course that took them to the horizon and beyond.  "Do you ever miss it?" Tenchi asked as the birds disappeared from view.  "Earth, I mean.  If you don't mind my asking."

          Funaho shifted her gaze out to the countryside.  "Sometimes."  She watched the gentle motion of the trees for a minute, then stood.  "Let me show you something, Tenchi.  It may help you understand a few things about Jurai, and yourself, as well."  She motioned toward the old tree standing behind them.  The two walked over to it, the shadows cast from the plentiful leaves shading them from the warm mid-day sun.  It was a very old tree, as Tenchi could tell from the moment he'd first noticed it, and it's surface was gnarled and covered with knots, but there were no signs of decay.  Just age.

          "This is the tree Murasama," Funaho said, running a hand across the rough bark.  "A great many years ago, when Jurai was still young, Murasama was born.  He was a first generation tree, a direct descendent of Tsunami, and he was bonded with a little boy whose mother was an off-worlder."  Funaho sat down on a nearby bench.  "She was not from Earth, but other than that, very little is known about her.  Unfortunately, the boy was very sick from birth, and when he was still very young, he died and was buried deep in the forest."

          "That's terrible."

          "Yes.  At this time, our people had only been on Jurai for a few generations, and there were not very many of us.  The child's death was hard for them.  Murasama took it especially hard, and refused to bond with another.  Even Tsunami herself could not help him through his grief, and eventually Murasama requested to be planted in the soil of Jurai, so that he could be one with his young master again."

          "But I thought if a royal tree took root, it would die?"

          Funaho nodded.  "I believe that was Murasama's idea.  Tsunami protested, of course, but Murasama's grief grew worse every day, and she finally relented and granted him his wish."

          Tenchi was confused, as usual.  "But that was thousands of years ago, and this tree is still alive."

          Funaho smiled.  "The tree is still alive, yes.  But Murasama is very much dead.  The will that grants the tree sentience and power died long ago, but the shell remains."

          "I see.  That's a very sad story."

          "Jurai's history is full of such tales.  After Murasama died, the trees would only bond with those of royal blood.  They did not want a repeat of what happened to Murasama."

          Tenchi sat down across from Funaho.  "What does that have to do with you and Earth?"

          "Just as this tree remains here, a part of me will always remain on Earth, but Jurai is my home now."  She smiled at Tenchi.  "This is where those I love are, and that's really all one needs.  Besides," she said, breaking into a huge grin, "living here definitely has it's benefits!"  She pointed at her cheeks.  "I wouldn't look this good if I were nine-hundred years old on Earth, now would I?"

          Tenchi laughed.  "No, I guess not!"

          They both looked at Murasama, each seeing something different in the way the rough bark curled around the great bulk of the tree.  The breeze rustled the leaves.

          "I'm glad you came, Tenchi."

          Tenchi nodded, still looking at the tree.  "With Ayeka and Sasami always talking about Jurai, I had to come and see it for myself."  He smiled.  "I'm glad I came, too."

          "How long will you stay?"

          Tenchi was taken aback slightly.  "You know, I hadn't really thought about it that much."  He ran his hand through his hair, scratching the back of his head.  "I guess I thought we'd go back in a few days, after tonight's celebration."

          "Do the girl's feel the same way?"

          "Oh, . . . um, . . . heh, I'm not sure."

          Funaho stood.  "You can stay as long as you wish, you know.  You are always welcome here."

          "What about the King?" Tenchi asked.  "I've got the feeling that he doesn't like me that much."

          "Don't worry about him," Funaho laughed, "Misaki and I will work on him.  You are a prince of Jurai, after all."  She beckoned for Tenchi to stand, and started down the path.  Tenchi jumped up and followed her into the grove.  She looked over at him as he caught up to her.  "There are many opportunities for you here on Jurai, you know, Tenchi.  You will have to make some decisions before too long."

          He nodded.  Through the trees, they heard the doors to the garden open.  They both looked up as they heard Ayeka calling for Tenchi.

          "Yes," Funaho said, "definitely some decisions."

---------------------------------------------------------------

          "He's the captain of the special criminals unit of the Galaxy Police," said Washu, reading from her computer.  "They're an elite team of detectives who, under Shinjiro's command, have tracked down and arrested some of the universe's most wanted and dangerous criminals."

          "Tough cookie," Ryoko said, only half listening to Washu.

          Washu shut down her computer and hopped off the counter.  "It's nothing that the greatest scientific genius in the universe can't handle!"

          "Great," Ryoko said, handing Washu her half-eaten cookie.  "Could you soften it up a little?  Nobuyuki can't bake to save his life."

          "Actually, I think these are the ones you made," said Washu, pulling a large wooden mallet out of nowhere.  "And you weren't listening to me!"

          "So what are you going to do, miss Washu?" asked Mihoshi.

          "Yeah, Washu," Ryoko growled, removing Washu's mallet from her head, "what are you going to do now?"

          "Absolutely nothing."

          "But he wants to arrest you!" cried Mihoshi.

          "He's welcome to try," she said, grabbing a cookie from the plate.  "He doesn't have any proof."  She bit into the cookie.

          "Are you alright, Washu?" asked Mihoshi, a little worried.  "I think I heard something break."

          "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU PUT IN THESE THINGS!?" shouted Washu, throwing her cookie at Ryoko, who ducked.  The cookie flew past, putting a good sized hole in the kitchen wall.

          "Damnit Washu, I told you I didn't make them!"

          "Anyway," she continued, reaching into subspace and pulling out a fresh-baked oatmeal raisin cookie, "I'd like to talk to this guy, at least.  It could be interesting."  She bit down on the cookie, and Mihoshi whimpered as a small amount of steam escaped.  "He should be getting here any time now," said Washu, popping the last of the cookie in her mouth.

          "My, that looked good," Mihoshi said.

          "What's this guy want with you, anyway?" Ryoko asked.

          "It seems he thinks I let Kain loose and destroyed G.P. headquarters."

          "That's ridiculous," said Ryoko.  "You helped us to destroy him."

          "But that was in the past, remember?  And no report was ever filed.  It was almost as if it never happened."

          "Where would he ever get such a crazy idea in the first place?"

          "Who knows?" Washu shrugged.  "People handle stressful situations in different ways.  He may be delusional."

          "Does that mean he's crazy?" asked Mihoshi.

          "Yes, Mihoshi.  That means he's crazy."

          "Oh my, that's not too good, is it?"

          "I'll be in my lab," said Washu, heading for the kitchen door.  "Someone might want to let Grandfather know some company is on the way."  She slid the door open and paused, looking back over her shoulder.  "And the kitchen could use some cleaning up, too while you're at it."

          Ryoko jumped up.  "I'm going to see the old man," she said, floating toward the outside wall.  She looked back over her shoulder at the pile of dishes sitting on the counter and snickered. . .

          . . .Then she smacked into the wall, crashing to the floor in a crumpled heap.  "Ouch!" she cried, sitting up and rubbing her head.  "Damnit Washu!  Warn me when you set up an anti-teleport shield, why don't you?"

          Washu was standing in the kitchen doorway.  "I'm sorry, Ryoko," she said quietly, rubbing her temple.  "I must have forgotten I put one there.  I'll. . . be in my lab if you need me."  She turned around and closed the door behind her.  Ryoko growled and stood up.

          "That damn Washu.  She can be such a pain sometimes."  She smoothed down her clothes and headed toward the kitchen door, then stopped dead in her tracks.

          "What is it, Ryoko?" asked Mihoshi.  Ryoko just stood there, facing away from Mihoshi.

          "I can't fly."

          "What do you mean?"

          "I just tried to. . . , and I can't."  She turned to face Mihoshi, a very worried look on her face.  "Mihoshi, I. . ." she said, her voice cracking and her hands trembling.  "I don't feel. . . very. . ."

          She collapsed.

          "Oh my god!  Ryoko!" cried Mihoshi, running over to her and kneeling next to the fallen woman.  She ran a hand over Ryoko's forehead.  "Hold on, Ryoko!" Mihoshi said, jumping to her feet.  "I'll get Washu!"  She slid the kitchen door open and headed for Washu's lab, but only made it a few steps before tripping over something.

          She smacked to the floor head-first, and the world exploded in a flash of red and white.  She cried out in pain, and pushed herself up to her knees, rubbing the large goose egg forming on her forehead.  She looked back down the hall, trying to see what it was that had tripped her up.  Behind her, just outside the kitchen door, was a jumbled heap of black cloth.

          Mihoshi scampered over to the mound, knowing that Washu lay underneath, but not understanding what it was she was seeing.  She scampered over to the little genius and started shaking her.

          "Washu!" she cried, rolling her over and staring at the child-like face, eyes half-closed and rolled back in her head   "Oh no, Washu!  Wake up!  Ryoko needs you!"  Washu's hair was matted with sweat, and was clinging to her face.  A trickle of blood traced down her forehead before dripping neatly to the floor.

          She wrapped her arms around the scientist and hugged her close.  "What's going on!" cried a very alone and very scared Mihoshi.

----------------------------------------------------------------

          Sasami pounded on Ayeka's door.  "Hurry up, Ayeka!  We're going to be late!"

          "I'm almost ready," Ayeka shouted, her voice muffled by the door.  "Could you help me with this belt?"

          "We have to hurry," Sasami said, opening the door and stepping into her sister's room.  She closed the door behind her and turned around.  "Oh, Ayeka," she said, clasping her hands in front of her and smiling, "you look beautiful!"

          "Do you think so, Sasami?" Ayeka said, trying to tie up her belt behind her.

          "Definitely," Sasami said.  Ayeka was wearing a bright red kimono, accented with golden dragons sewn into the fabric that bounced light around the room as she moved.  She had removed her ponytails and was wearing her hair down, held in place by a flat, golden hair clasp.  "Where did you get that dress, Ayeka?" Sasami asked, helping her sister tie her belt in a giant bow.

          "At a small shop on Earth.  It comes from China.  Do you think Tenchi will like it?" she asked, smoothing down a couple of folds in the fabric.

          Sasami finished with Ayeka's belt and nodded.  "Uhm-hm!  He'll love it!  But won't father be angry?  Everybody else will be wearing Juraian clothes."

          "I'm not worried about him," Ayeka said, sitting down on a stool and pulling her shoes on.  "Everybody knows we've been on Earth for quite some time now.  It will be good to give them a little taste of a different culture.  Come here."  She picked some lint off of Sasami's traditional party dress and smoothed out a few wrinkles.  "That's better."

          "Come on, Ayeka," Sasami said, grabbing her sister's hands and pulling her up.  "We have to hurry.  They're about to start!"

          "Okay, okay, I'm ready now."

          "Tenchi's waiting downstairs with our mothers," she said, letting go of Ayeka's hands and running out into the hall.  "We're supposed to meet them there.  We have to wait to get introduced before we can sit down," the young princess said, slightly disgusted.

          Ayeka smiled, shutting her door and starting down the hall.  "It's all part of the ceremony."

          "I still think it's stupid.  They won't even let me sit by Tenchi."

          Ayeka was slightly surprised.  "I hadn't thought of that.  Where is he sitting?"

          "Next to Mother Funaho, on the other side of father."

          "And you and I sit with our Mother, right?" Ayeka grumbled.  Sasami nodded.  A deep, low growl started to form in Ayeka's throat.  "Father and his stupid blood lines."

          "Ayeka," Sasami said, tugging on Ayeka's sleeve.  "You're turning red.  But what does it mean?"

          "Tenchi is Brother Yosho's grandson, right?  Father wants everybody at the dinner to see the different blood lines.  Lady Misaki is our mother, so we sit on her side of the table.  Tenchi is Lady Funaho's great-grandson, so he sits next to her.  It's politics."

          "Well I think we should be able to sit where ever we want."

          "Yes, but we're princesses, so we have to follow tradition sometimes."

          Sasami sighed.  "I like it better on Earth.  The people there aren't so stuffy all the time."

          Ayeka chuckled.  "You know, Sasami, I think you're right."

          "Wow, Ayeka," Tenchi said as the princesses entered the waiting room, "that's a great dress!"

          "I told you," whispered Sasami, smiling.

          "You look very nice, as well, Lord Tenchi," Ayeka bowed.

          "Gee, ya' think so?" Tenchi said, scratching the back of his head and looking down at the traditional Juraian attire the Queen's had chosen for him.  "I don't know, I feel kinda' silly, actually." 

          "You look great, Tenchi!" said Sasami, walking up to him and smiling.

          "Thanks, Sasami."

          "You're planning on making quite the impression tonight, aren't you, Ayeka?" Funaho asked as Ayeka sat down on the couch next to Misaki.

          "If you're referring to the dress, it's the only thing I had that no one has seen before, that's all."

          "I think it's adorable," said Misaki, tracing one of the golden dragons with her finger.

          "It's certainly cute," Funaho said, "but it doesn't exactly say 'First Princesses of Jurai,' now does it?"

          Ayeka gently slapped Misaki's hand off her dress.  "Everybody knows who I am already, and they all know I've been on Earth, so what's wrong with showing them a little of that planet's fashion?"

          Funaho chuckled.  "I'm just saying that it's definitely something different, that's all."

          "And what's this I hear about our seating arrangements?  Sasami was telling me that Father has us sitting on opposite ends of the table."

          "That's right," said Lady Funaho.  "You two will sit next to Misaki on the right side of the King, and Tenchi and I will be on his left.  Sasami, you will sit next to your mother.  And Ayeka, Seiryo will be sitting next to you."

          "WHAT!?" shouted Ayeka, jumping to her feet and nearly knocking Misaki off the couch.

          "Oh no, Ayeka," said Sasami, covering her mouth.  "Be careful about your dress!"

          "Do you mean to tell me that _he_ will be here tonight?"

         "Of course he will.  You know your father has selected him for you."  She chuckled and winked at Misaki, who smiled back.  "You didn't think he would give up that easily, now did you?"

          "But. . . but. . ."

          "It was your father's idea.  We had nothing to do with it."

          She slowly sat down again, chewing on her thumbnail.  "Things might get a little. . . awkward," she muttered.

          Tenchi sighed and collapsed into an overstuffed chair.  "He's probably going to want a rematch.  And no Mihoshi this time around."  From the other room, they could hear the orchestra begin tuning up their instruments, and the muffled sounds of isolated conversation as the guests started to filter into the great banquet hall.

          "It sounds like they're starting," Sasami said, sitting down next to Ayeka.  Tenchi felt a knot of apprehension forming in his gut.  Misaki looked at the clock on the wall.

          "Right on time!"

          "Well," Lady Funaho said, standing and stretching, "another fifteen minutes or so and we make our 'grand entrance.'"

          "Fifteen minutes!" cried Sasami.  Tenchi groaned as well.  He couldn't stand the waiting.

          "Yes, dear," Funaho said, smiling.  "Everyone else has to show up and get settled first."

          "But I'm getting hungry."

          "Me too!" said Misaki, standing.  "I'll have some snacks brought in."  She went over to the hallway door and poked her head out, apparently talking to a servant.  The knot in Tenchi's stomach tightened, and he wasn't certain if he could keep any food down.

          _That would be great,_ he thought, _upchucking in front of the entire royal court.  That would be a good one for the newspapers._

          "Are you feeling all right, Tenchi?" Sasami asked, watching him worriedly.  "You look a little pale."

          "No, I'm fine," he said, sitting up straight in the oversized chair and smoothing down his outlandish clothes.  "Just a little nervous."

          "There's nothing to worry about, Lord Tenchi," said Ayeka.  "Just be yourself and everything will be fine."

          Tenchi's stomach did another flop.  "That's easy for you to say.  You've been doing this ever since you were born.  I'm just an ordinary Earth boy who didn't even go to his school dances."

          The door slammed shut, and they all turned as Misaki walked back into the room, a large tray filled with hors d'oeuvre's in her hands.

          "I've got the snacks!"

          "I see," said Ayeka, biting the tip off a slice of cheese.  "I suppose that does make more sense then what I was thinking."  Sasami nodded her head in agreement, sipping soda water through a straw.

          "Be careful not to spill any of that, Sasami," Misaki said, taking a piece of cheese for herself.

          "So you see," Tenchi said, leaning back in his chair, "it's not. . ."

          He was interrupted by a gentle knock at the hall door.  It opened halfway, and an older gentleman peeked inside.  "It is almost time, your highnesses."

          "Oh good!" Misaki said, setting down the uneaten portion of her cheese and standing up.  Funaho also rose and stepped over to the large double doors that opened to the banquet hall.

          "You kids remember the order, don't you?" she said, performing a few last minute touch-up's on her gown.

          "Yes, mother," Ayeka said shortly.  "I haven't been out of the loop for that long."

          Tenchi wondered briefly how one could consider seven hundred years 'not that long.'

          "I was in stasis, remember?" Ayeka growled, glaring at Tenchi and leaving him wondering if he'd thought out loud or not.  A fanfare of trumpets erupted in the hall, and he jumped out of his chair and straightened out his suit.  He lined up behind Ayeka and Sasami, who were standing behind their mothers.  There was another fanfare from the orchestra, and the large wooden doors swung open.

          Tenchi had never seen so much luxury in his life.  The hall was enormous, with dozens of brightly lit crystal chandeliers hanging from the exposed beams of the vaulted ceiling.  A second look revealed that the beams were actually the branches of a great tree that stood in the center of the room, and the ceiling was in fact that very tree's leaves.  Three tables were sitting under the great tree's branches; one on a raised dais just to the right of the waiting room's doors, with chairs set on one side, facing into the room, the King of Jurai seated in the center; and two longer, but narrower, tables arranged on either side of the tree's massive trunk, perpendicular to the dais.  All three were adorned with brightly polished plates and crystal goblets rimmed with gold.  Immaculately carved wooden candelabras stood in the center of each table, casting a gently dancing glow across the white tablecloths and onto the polished floor.

          As the doors slammed back against the wall, the guests rose from their seats, watching the royal party with respect.  Tenchi's gut flopped again as a well dressed, elderly man stepped forward.  The announcer cleared his throat and gestured to the Queen's party.

          "The Queens of Jurai, Misaki and Funaho."

          The two ladies smiled and stepped from the doorway, walking slowly but firmly to the table that was set on the dais.  Azusa, King of Jurai, rose form his massive chair and welcomed his wives, helping them both in turn to their seats.  Funaho smiled at Tenchi, and winked at him as she sat, folding her napkin into her lap.

          "The first Princess of Jurai, Ayeka," boomed the servants voice.

          Ayeka walked out into the hall (or courtyard, thought Tenchi, either description would work), carrying herself as properly as ever.  Every head in the place turned as she walked, the golden threads in her dress casting light across the open expanse of the room.  She kissed her father on the cheek as she passed his seat, congratulating him on his anniversary.   Azusa's eyes widened as he looked her dress over, and his jaw started to form some words, but he cut them off.  She smiled and headed for her seat.  Her smile froze as she noticed Seiryo, the pink-haired fop, standing next to her chair.  He bowed slightly and pulled her seat back from the table, gesturing for the princess to sit.  Ayeka grimaced, and begrudgingly took her seat.

          "The Princess Sasami."

          Sasami giggled and practically bounced up to the table, kissing her father as well before sitting down between Ayeka and her mother.  Tenchi gulped.

          "The first Prince of Jurai, Tenchi."

          He took a deep breath and stepped into the banquet hall.  A great hush fell over the room, and Tenchi could feel every eye on him as he walked briskly to the King's table.  Misaki grinned and flashed him the "V" sign as he stepped onto the dais.  Azusa frowned and looked away, and Tenchi suddenly realized he had no idea if he was supposed to say anything to the King before he sat or not.  The girls had, but they were his children.  He gulped and decided to play it safe.  He approached the King and bowed.

          "Your Highness," he said, trying not to sound nervous and sounding nervous in the process, "Congratulations on your, um. . . on your anniversary."

          Azusa didn't look at him, and simply made a small sort of grunting sound that Tenchi took as a dismissal.  He bowed again and quickly took his seat next to Funaho, grateful to take the load off of his shaking legs.  Funaho patted him on the leg as he settled into his seat.  Tenchi looked up as he heard the heavy wooden doors shut, and the guests once again took their seats.  He looked around the room at the various people in attendance.  Most were human, but there were a few who were not.  All were well dressed and carried themselves well.  Tenchi noticed that the honored few who had the privilege to sit at the King's table were the most noble-looking of the crowd.  Five guests were seated to his left; an older gentleman and his wife, and a younger, rich-looking couple with their bored teenage son.  He looked to the other end of the table and saw three nobles beyond Ayeka and Seiryo.  Sasami looked at him and smiled.  Tenchi smiled back and waved.

          The quiet conversation that had begun to fill the room was interrupted as Azusa cleared his throat and stood, his massive chair scrapping against the floor.

          "Thank you all for coming tonight," he began, his deep voice effortlessly filling the great hall.  "While it is a momentous occasion that we have gathered to celebrate, my wives have asked that I not bore you all with longwinded speech.  I agree with them, so for now, let's eat."  Conveniently hidden doors on either side of the hall swung open as the King sat back down, and dozens of servants emerged carrying a variety of food and drink.  They first set up the King's table, serving up a feast of roast meat (it resembled beef) or fish, depending on the guest's preference.  The side dishes were plentiful and exotic.

          After serving the head table, the waiters made their way to the guest tables, and the feast began in earnest.  Tenchi looked the table over, feeling very out of place.  The entire arrangement was quite different from the informal family dinners that he was used to, and even different from the practice dinners he and Ayeka had held on Ryu-oh.  The first thing he noticed was. . .

          "No chop-sticks?" he asked Funaho, quietly from the side of his mouth.  The Queen chuckled.

          "Not tonight," she said, picking up her fork and knife and cutting into her roast.

          "You know," Tenchi said, picking up his utensils, "I'd always figured Jurai resembled the eastern culture's of Earth, like Japan.  So what's with the western-style feast?"

          "More like Japan resembles Jurai," Funaho said.  She took a sip of wine.  "I imagine the King simply felt like something a little different.  Something to break up the old formality a little."  She smiled and glanced at Ayeka, who was doing her best to ignore Seiryo's advances.  The golden dragons danced in the candlelight as she hastily ate her meal, keeping her mouth full so she wouldn't have to talk to the pink-haired noble.  Sasami and Misaki kept glancing at the two and chuckling.  Ayeka was clearly perturbed, but Seiryo didn't seem to notice as he blabbered on about something no-one else cared about.  Even as she stuffed her face, she managed to keep herself dignified.  Tenchi was awed by how natural the princesses looked, decked out in their expensive dresses and surrounded by luxury, seated in places of honor.  He realized he was staring.

          "She's more like her father then she realizes."

          Tenchi dropped his fork.  "I'm sorry," he said, grabbing his utensil and looking around to make sure no-one had noticed, "what was that?"

          "Nothing," Funaho said, cutting another piece of meat.  Tenchi sighed and looked down at his plate, which was piled high with expensive-looking food.  He was _not_ hungry.  Not in the least.  Besides, his gut was such a nervous mess at the moment, he wasn't sure he could hold anything down anyway.  He sighed again and cut a small slice of fish (sea salmon?) and placed it in his mouth.

          "Damn," he mumbled, then placed his hand over his mouth and looked around, remembering where he was.  Funaho chuckled softly, not looking at him.

          "Mister Liu is quite the master, isn't he?"

          "I'll say," Tenchi said, eating another cut of fish.  Maybe he could hold some down after all.  He took a drink of his wine (which was sweeter than other western wines he had tasted) and looked again at Ayeka.  She was still ignoring Seiryo, who was still ignoring the fact that he was being ignored.  She placed her last piece of potato in her mouth and brushed back her bangs.  He realized this was one of the few times he had seen her with her hair down.  She looked good like that.

          Azusa suddenly leaned forward in his seat, reaching for the wine pitcher, blocking Ayeka from Tenchi's view.  The King glared at Tenchi, who turned quickly back to his food and indulged in his meal with new-found zeal.  Azusa grunted and poured himself another glass of wine.  Misaki smoothed down his hair and took the amphora from him, refilling her own goblet and saying something to Azusa that Tenchi couldn't hear over the buzz of conversation.

          Tenchi sighed, finishing off the fish and starting in on the salad, his stomach suddenly not feeling all that good again.

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          "What a backwards little planet this is," whined Amos as he slowed the ship's descent, "There aren't even any landing beacons to home in on."

          "It's a Jurai protected zone," Rodger said, watching Amos's landing sequence with care, "It's a developing planet.  We're not even supposed to be here."

          "I don't care," Shinjiro said, pacing back and forth across the deck.

          Adrian downed a shot of Sake` and cursed.  "Just as long as I get my money."

          "You will."

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          Mihoshi gripped Ryo-Chan tight as she watched Lord Katsuhito wipe Ryoko's forehead with a damp cloth.  The little cabit-girl meowed pitifully as she tried to pry herself from Mihoshi's grip and watch over Ryoko at the same time.  Katsuhito folded a comforter over Ryoko and looked over at the girls.

          "I think she will be fine in a little while."

          Mihoshi nodded and wiped away a tear.  Ryo-Chan broke free of her grip and padded over to Ryoko's side, looking at the pirate with huge, water filled eyes.  Katsuhito placed a hand on her head.

          "Do you know what is wrong with her, Ryo-oh-ki?" he asked.

          Ryo-Chan sniffed and shook her head.

          Mihoshi suddenly exploded in tears.  "First Sasami, and now Ryoko, too!"

          Katsuhito sighed.  "Yes,  it has been a little odd around here recently, hasn't it?"  The old man stood.  "Well, I should check on Washu again."

          "No need for that," Washu said, topping the stairs and entering Ryoko's room.

          "Good," Katsuhito said, sitting back down, "that saves me a trip downstairs."

          "Miss Washu!" cried Mihoshi, "You're alright!  I was really worried!"  Ryo-Chan meowed in agreement.

          Washu collapsed into one of the giant carrot-cushions that were strewn about the room.  "Thanks for your concern, Mihoshi, but I'm not better yet.  And I'm afraid Ryoko's pretty bad off, as well."

          Mihoshi looked quite worried.

          Katsuhito arched an eyebrow.  "What's this, Washu?"

          "I can't be one-hundred percent certain until I can run some tests, but it would seem that Ryoko's gems are losing their power."

          "What!?" Mihoshi shouted, clasping her hands over her mouth.  "That's terrible!"

          "Hmm," mumbled Katsuhito, looking from Washu to Ryoko.  Ryo-Chan's lower lip trembled as she started to cry, wiping Ryoko's forehead down.  Washu folded her legs and leaned forward.

          "Yes, it's very terrible."      

          "But without her jewels," Mihoshi said, her eyes tearing up again, "Ryoko won't be able to fly, or make a sword, or anything, will she?"

          "It's a little worse than that, I'm afraid," Washu said, looking at everyone's face.  "Without the power from the gems, Ryoko will die."

          "OH NO!" Mihoshi bawled, covering her face in her hands.  Ryo-Chan burst into tears.  Washu reached over and took her into her arms.

          "I know," Washu said softly.  "I know."

          Katsuhito stroked his chin, then stood.  "Washu, we need to talk."  He looked down at Mihoshi.  "Mihoshi, could you watch over Ryoko and Ryo-oh-ki for a while, please?"

          Mihoshi sniffed and nodded, taking Ryo-Chan from Washu.  Katsuhito helped Washu to her feet, and they headed downstairs to the living room.

          "What is going on here, Washu?"

          The red-headed genius plopped onto the couch and leaned against the arm rest.  "I'm sorry, Lord Katsuhito," she said, rubbing the side of her head and wincing, "but I don't have all the answers this time."

          "I don't want all the answers," he said, sitting down beside her.  "Just tell me what you _think_ you know."

          "This isn't like me at all," Washu said, looking up and wiping a small tear from her eye.  "I can't think straight at the moment."

          "Tell me about Ryoko's jewels."

          "Ah, the jewels," she said, laughing.  "The only mystery that I've never been able to solve over time."  She sighed and closed her eyes.  "I created Ryoko to take full advantage of their power.  The gems are what give her life, her power, what make her immortal.  She was my ultimate achievement, but I was never able to figure out the power of the gems.  I couldn't even copy them.  After a while, I was able to make fake gems, but their power was far less than that of the originals.  Kagato figured all this out as well, and became obsessed by it all, but you know his story."

          "Yes, but where did they come from?"

          Washu laughed and fell back into the couch, throwing up her hands.  "I don't know!  Clay asked me the same thing.  He was even more confused about it all than you are."  She sat up again.  "I don't know.  I've always had them, ever since I was. . . since I was a little girl."

          "Did your parents give them to you?"

          Washu shook her head slowly, staring straight ahead.  "I never had any parents."

          "You were an orphan?"

          "Can we not talk about this?"

          "If it will help Ryoko, we must."

          "It won't help.  If the gems really are losing their power, there's nothing I can do."

          "You're giving up, then?"

          Washu bowed her head.

          Katsuhito nodded and looked away.

          "I've been working on those damned gems my entire life," Washu said, her voice quiet.  "That's over twenty-thousand years.  I don't know anything about them."

          "I thought you knew everything."

          "Goddamnit!  Quit pushing me."

          "I'm trying to help."

          Washu rose from the couch and walked over to the window, looking out on the lake.  The moon was just starting to rise over the mountains, casting its gentle glow over the valley.

          "Do you know why I'm still alive, even though I'm living on earth, cut off from the power of the Royal Trees?"

          "The gems are sustaining Funaho," Washu said quietly, watching the moonlight dance across the lake.

          "You know, then?"

          "I only suspect," she sighed, "I can't prove.  I don't really want to, either."

          "What's this?" Katsuhito said, rising from the couch.  "The greatest scientific genius in the universe is allowing a mystery to slip away un-investigated?"

          The moon lifted over the top of the mountains, and Washu turned from the window to lean against the bookshelves.  "I learned long ago to let the gems be.  I don't question them anymore.  They just are.  I've had them long enough, and they brought me no answers.  That's why I passed them on to Ryoko."  She smiled and chuckled, looking over at Katsuhito.  "And Yosho passed them on to Tenchi."

          Katsuhito crossed the great room and took Washu's place in front of the window.  "So now you study Tenchi instead of the gems?"

          "That time with Kagato, and again with Clay.  I've only seen it once before."

          "His Light Hawk Wings?"

          Washu nodded.  "Without access to a Royal Tree."  She rubbed her head again and sighed.  "But Ryoko never used them, and Kagato never suspected, so I must have been wrong."

          "Lady Funaho suspects the same thing."

          Washu laughed.  "Yes, she would, wouldn't she?"

          The world outside suddenly brightened, and a howling wind tore at the surface of the lake, beating against the side of the house.  Katsuhito looked skyward, and nodded.  "It looks as if our guests have arrived."

          The_ Amos_ settled down gently in the lake, floating next to the large dock that extended from the house.  Adrian keyed in a sequence on Amos's control panel, and the ship shut itself down.  Rodger looked over some data that was fed to his screen, and he nodded at Shinjiro, who stood and headed for the door.

          "What do you want us to do?" Rodger asked as the doors slid open for Shinjiro.  The Officer paused and shrugged.

          "Just keep the engines warm.  This shouldn't take that long."  He stepped into the hall, and the doors closed behind him.

          Adrian sniffed and settled back in his chair.  "Guy thinks he's a damned hero."

          Rodger shook his head.  "He does seem to have changed, doesn't he?"

          "Ah, we don't know a thing about him.  If it wasn't for the money, I'd say we just dump him here.  Better off without him."

          "Maybe, I don't know."

          Shinjiro paused in front of the port airlock before opening the doors.  "Well, Hakubi," he muttered to himself, punching the keypad, "Here we go."

          The computer ran a quick pressure and atmosphere check, decided that the outside air was fine, and opened both sets of doors on the airlock at the same time.  Shinjiro was struck by a rush of warm, fresh air. . .

          _. . .A breath of warm air, breathed deep into his soul, pulsing, surging, filling him with newfound strength. . ._

          . . .And stepped from the _Amos_ onto the dock that adjoined the house.  He looked around and sighed.  There was no sign of detective Mihoshi anywhere.  _Oh well,_ he thought, _wasn't really looking forward to meeting her anyway._

          A door on the side of the house slid open, and Shinjiro turned to see an old man with glasses standing in the doorway.

          "Hello, my friend," the man said, stepping to the side of the door.  "Why don't you come inside and have some tea?  I just put the water on now."

          Shinjiro blinked in surprise, then reminded himself that Mihoshi and Ryoko had been living with these people for quite a while now.  They were probably quite well adjusted, for natives.  Shinjiro bowed at the old man, as was Juraian tradition.

          "Thank you, father."  He stood straight, and crossed the deck.  He stopped in front of the old man and smiled.  "My name is Lieutenant Shinjiro Yakagamo, of the Galaxy Police.  I have been looking for a suspected criminal by the name of Washu Hakubi.  Is she here?  I have some questions I would like to ask her."

          "Katsuhito Masaki," the man said, bowing.  "Yes, Washu is inside, but I must insist you leave your weapons by the door.  No matter the justification, I never allow violence in my house, when I can help it."

          Shinjiro started to object, then smiled and handed over his G.P. issue blaster.  Katsuhito took the weapon with a nod and set it on the small table behind him.  Shinjiro kicked his shoes off and started to enter the house, but Katsuhito's hand on his shoulder brought him up short.  Shinjiro turned to look at the old man, who shook his head.

          "Your other ones, as well, please."

          Shinjiro sighed.  _Never underestimate the natives,_ he told himself.  "I trust Miss Washu is disarmed as well?" he asked, handing over his other pistol and two ankle knives.

          "Of course," Katsuhito said, taking the weapons and gesturing for the officer to go ahead inside.

          It was a very nice house, by any planet's standards.  The door Shinjiro had entered through led to what was obviously the main living area.  It wasn't very large, but felt right, with high ceilings and exposed beams.  He looked around, actually admiring the cozy feel of the room.  His eyes fell on the couch that faced toward the large bay of windows.  And she waved at him.

          _. . .The way she looked at him, as if to say. . ._

          "Hey there!" she said, grinning.

----------------------------------------------------------------

          He just would not shut up!  She hadn't said more than half a dozen words to him all night, but the pompous fool didn't seem to notice (or care) that she was doing her best to ignore him.  And he just wouldn't shut up!

          Ayeka dropped her napkin on the table and stood.  That got a reaction, at least.

          "Lady Ayeka, what is it?" Seiryo asked as the Princess stepped away from the table.

          "I'm sorry, Seiryo," she said, "but I must excuse myself for a moment."

          "But I was just getting to the good part."

          Ayeka was barely able to contain a grimace.  "I'll be back in a minute," she lied, "and you may finish your story then."

          "Alright," Seiryo said with a flourish, "but don't keep me waiting too long!"  He then turned to the noble at his right and started into another equally dull and un-important story.  Ayeka sighed and walked away from the table.  Sasami and Misaki looked up at her as she passed by.  She just nodded her head at them and rolled her eyes.

          Azusa glanced at her as she walked by, then returned to the conversation he was having with the noble who was kneeling by his chair.  Funaho watched her pass, and smiled.  Ayeka barely glanced at Tenchi, not wanting to make any more of a scene than she already was.  She felt him turn to watch her, and could picture the questioning look on his face, but kept walking.  She stepped from the dais, knowing that many of the guests would be watching her as well.  It was a little odd, after all, for the first princess to leave the table during the meal.  She didn't really care at this point, though.

          She approached the doors to the waiting room, and a doorman opened one of the doors for her.  Ayeka smiled to herself, remembering how nice it was to have so many servants.  She entered the waiting room, and the door shut behind her.  She sighed and fell back against the heavy wooden door.  That Seiryo had really gotten to her, more than she'd realized.

          "It wouldn't have been that bad if he'd actually had something to say," she mumbled, trying not to grate her teeth.  She rested there for a moment, her eyes closed, then stood and smoothed down her dress.  She crossed the small waiting room and went into the hall, the muffled sounds of the feast drifting down the empty corridor.  She paused, looking first one way, then the other.

          "Drat," she sighed.  "Which way was the powder room?"

          She went left.  She had only gone a few steps when she noticed that the noise from the party had changed slightly.  She paused, trying to figure out what it was that seemed different, when someone screamed.

          Tenchi looked up from his meal as Ayeka stepped off the dais and walked over to the waiting room.

          "Where is she going?" he asked as the doors closed behind her.

          "Well," Funaho said, watching a few other women in the hall get up to leave also, "the dancing will begin shortly, so I'd imagine she's freshening up."

          "Dancing!?"  He dropped his fork again.

          Funaho chuckled.  "You didn't think we'd just sit around and eat all night, did you?"

          "But. . . er. . ."

          A jumble of action from the other end of the table caught their attention, and they both looked up.  Misaki was snatching up an overturned goblet while at the same time trying to avoid the wine that was running off the edge of the table.  Sasami was staring straight ahead, her arm resting on the table, apparently stunned that she had just knocked over a glass.  A few of the other guests had noticed the commotion and were looking on, slightly amused.

          "Oh no," Funaho chuckled, sipping her own wine.  "She's still just a child, isn't she?"

          "Her sleeve is going to get stained," Tenchi said.

          "Oh, you're right," Funaho said, setting down her goblet.  The puddle of wine was spreading, getting dangerously close to Sasami's arm.  Sasami still hadn't moved.  "Misaki," Funaho said, waving at her sister.  "Her sleeve?"

          Misaki looked at Funaho, a soaked napkin in one hand and the empty goblet in the other, then noticed where Funaho was pointing.

          "Oh!," she cried, dropping the napkin and glass and snatching Sasami's arm away from the invading puddle of red.  Azusa sighed and shook his head, gesturing for one of the waiters.

          Tenchi set his fork down, watching Misaki try keep the wine from spreading while keeping it off of her dress and Sasami's.  A few muffled chuckles rose from the guest tables.  "That's odd," Tenchi said.

          "What's that?" Funaho asked, patting Azusa's arm as he gingerly righted the goblet Misaki had dropped.

          "Sasami," Tenchi said.  "She's just sitting there."

          And then the little princess started to shake.  At first, very slightly, and Misaki gasped, grabbing hold of Sasami's shoulders and pulling her close.  Sasami's eyes stared straight ahead, wide open but seeing nothing, and her shaking started to grow worse.  Azusa leaned forward in his seat and dropped his fork, his brow furling.

          "Shit, not again," Tenchi said, pushing his chair back and getting to his feet.  Funaho looked at him, and rose from her seat as well, resting a hand on her husband's shoulder.  Someone in the room suddenly screamed, and a hush fell over the great hall.

          Sasami's seizure grew markedly worse, and she gave a couple of great lurches before suddenly falling completely still, collapsing into Misaki's arms.  Misaki gripped her daughter tight, pulling her up into her lap, and turned to stare at Azusa with wide eyes.  The King looked back at her, not knowing what to say.  Everyone looked back at Sasami,  who was still staring straight ahead, beads of sweat forming on her forehead and starting to trickle down her face.

          "Sasami. . ." Funaho said, squeezing Azusa's shoulder tighter.  The guests started to murmur.  Tenchi stood there, watching and realizing how Ryoko must have felt. . .

          The marks on Sasami's forehead started to glow, and her eyes opened wider (if it was even possible).  Her jaw started to work up and down, and she shrunk onto her mother's lap slightly.  A servant approached Misaki, kneeling beside the Queen and placing a hand on Sasami's back.

          Suddenly the marks seemed to explode with light, and Sasami went rigid, her mouth opening and closing faster and faster.  She closed her eyes tight and grabbed the sides of her head.

          "Washu one-sama!" she screamed, the words echoing throughout the great hall, causing the candles to flicker and go out, "where are you?!"

          And she went limp, folding into her mother's arms.

End of Part 1


End file.
